If everything was not perfect once again, Clermont gave itself a chance to qualify for the round of 16 of the Rugby Champions Cup, winning at home a precious victory against the English Sale Sharks (25- 19).
With three tries from Fritz Lee (13th), Alivereti Raka (23rd) and Damian Penaud (40th), elected man of the match, Clermont could even have obtained the offensive bonus with an additional try. But for Camille Lopez, it was above all essential to win the meeting, to continue to maintain the hope of a qualification for the final stages of the European Cup.
– Julien Oury
We tried everything at the start of the second period to get the bonus try. Scrum, touch, but we didn’t succeed… So we had to go back to simple things, and try kicking, above all to win the match! -Camille Lopez
For the fly half, “Clermont had ups and downs in this meeting, like our season in the end. Opposite Sale was a strong team. We even looked at each other laughing with Damian (Penaud) during the match, saying to ourselves that “They were like us three times. But the most important thing is to have been able to win this match. We stay alive in this European Cup”.
Like his flyhalf, New Zealand coach Jono Gibbes knew his team could do better in this encounter and had experienced “ups and downs, like our season”. But the Auvergne coach wanted above all “to retain the positive points of this meeting, with the victory, and an excellent defense, against a powerful and particularly strong team in the game without the ball, where we managed to make an equal game”.
– Julien Oury
Our team has had its ups and downs, just like our season. But I want to take the positive with the victory and our very good defense – Jono Gibbes
With this first victory in this European season, Clermont jumped up the standings and now occupies 6th place with 7 points, in a pool A dominated by Racing 92 (14 points). To reach the round of 16 of the event, Clermont will have to pick up points in Ireland next Saturday (6:30 p.m.) for the last match of the group stage, with the aim of obtaining one of the first 8 qualifying places.
This decisive meeting of the 4th day of the European Rugby Cup will be followed next Saturday at 6:30 p.m. on France Bleu Pays d’Auvergne. A match that promises to be complicated against a team from Ulster, always difficult to beat on its Raven-Hill ground.