Published
Update
Video duration: 10 min
1/8 final: the summary of Clermont – Cheetahs
.
(France TV)
Favorites at home against the South African team, the Auvergnats reached the round of 16 despite a scare at the end of the match (27-22) on Saturday.
The ASM was hot. Opposed to the Cheetahs in the round of 16 of the Challenge Cup, the Clermontois scored a tense victory (27-22), Saturday April 6, at the stadium Marcel-Michelin. In control for almost an hour, the Auvergne club was scared at the end of the match. Despite a 24-point setback after attempts by Joris Jurand (3rd), Bautista Delguy (38th), Etienne Fourcade (40th+3) and Baptiste Jauneau (55th), the South Africans played their cards right, to the point of make the yellow and blue audience tremble.
Taking advantage of a yellow card addressed to the locals, the Cheetahs haveflattened three times in the goal (64th, 69th, 74th). But, at the age of 40, the 2007 world champion Ruan Pienaar wasted one of the last opportunities to turn the match around. A relief for Christophe Urios’ men in the middle of a complex season in Top 14, with an 11th place.
Unlike Castres – eliminated by Gloucester on Friday (30-25) – Clermont will play in the quarter-finals, again with home advantage. It will be against the winner of the duel between Montpellier and Ulster. Note that Bayonne travels to Edinburgh on Saturday, while Pau welcomes Connacht on Sunday.
