Following Clermont’s epic 33-26 victory over Bristol Bears, here are our five takeaways from the Investec Champions Cup thriller.
Top line
It took 86 minutes for Clermont to emerge victorious as a game that struggled to entertain burst into life in the final quarter.
Alivereti Raka’s brace and an Alex Newsome score saw the hosts hold a handy 19-7 lead after an hour of action before Bristol launched a comeback.
With their first score coming from a penalty try, James Dun reduced the gap to seven points shortly before Noah Heward cantered over for the Bears’ third try.
Clermont’s penalty try with five minutes to go looked to seal the outcome but the Bears bit back brilliantly as Kieran Marmion dived over out wide as Ross Byrne levelled the scores with a clutch conversion.
A nerve-wracking 10 minutes ensued as both sides went in search of a winning score with multiple turnovers but ultimately, it was Clermont who found the killer blow as Thomas Ceyte punched over the line to seal the hosts’ route into the Challenge Cup round of 16.
Thrilling finish
The kind of finish you can only get with Bristol it seems. While a lot of this match stuttered along phase by phase, it burst into life in the final five minutes. It all started with Clermont turning down a tricky shot at goal to chase a bonus point try.
That looked to be the wrong decision as they were denied a try by referee Sam Grove-White only for his TMO Andrew McMenemy to interject. McMenemy spotted clear and obvious proof of an indiscretion by Bristol with their captain Fitz Harding rolling the dice and illegally collapsing the Clermont maul. It was a spot-on call from the officials and a popular one from the home fans who believed it would be the winner.
However, Bristol did a Bristol thing and a gorgeous chip over the top from Harry Byrne ended with a try for his fellow countryman Marmion who silenced the Marcel Michelin brilliantly. Byrne’s job wasn’t done just yet as he converted the try to level the scores.
Madness ensued from there as Ben Urdapilleta looked to manufacture a drop goal opportunity but unlike Antoine Hastoy last week, the wily old head held onto the ball instead of pulling the trigger as the Bears came sprinting towards him.
Bautista Delguy proved a slippery customer as per usual but ultimately it was the brute strength of the Clermont pack that provided the knockout blow as Marcos Kremer went just short but Ceyte did not.
For Bears, again they finished as bridesmaids in an epic encounter. This was the case in the Premiership semi-final a few seasons ago against Harlequins.
Power game
It was rather fitting that the final blow came in the way it did as that was where the game was won and lost for the first hour.
While the Bears are capable of making something out of nothing and leaving their opponents gobsmacked, as was the case with Marmion’s try, they often fall short on the power battle on the gainline. That was the case in the final play of the match and much before then.
The likes of the peerless Peceli Yato, Kremer, Fritz Lee, Folau Fainagaa and Alexandre Fischer were mammoth today as Clermont converted not only on scrum pressure but gainline too with a special mention to Raka who caused the Bears all kinds of issues.
One cannot overlook the efforts of the simply world-class Steven Luatua, who had another blinder and the excellence of Harding – before he rolled the dice – but it was not enough as Clermont cashed in on their big beef up front.
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England watch
Just two of Bristol Bears’ men were named in Steve Borthwick’s squad for the 2025 Six Nations, namely Ellis Genge and Harry Randall. The latter’s inclusion was notable as he effectively beat out Bath’s Ben Spencer for a place in the squad.
Borthwick’s team will play far differently compared to Pat Lam’s charges with the scrum-half asked to kick far more frequently in the former. Still, Randall will likely be tasked with adding energy and pace in the latter stages and today he managed to spark a bit of magic.
It wasn’t the finest outing from the 27-year-old but he did keep the Clermont defence around the fringes honest.
He was, however, guilty of poor defence, particularly with Raka’s first try as Baptiste Jauneau sped away from the back of the scrum and sent the winger over. While the new laws make things difficult for defending number nines who can no longer pester their opposite number at the back of the set-piece, Randall had to do better on his cover defence.
Ellis Genge was once again in a destructive mood around the park as he racked up an impressive 23 metres beating seven defenders.
There is never really any concern about the England loosehead’s ability with the ball in hand or on defence but his scrummaging will be. Michael Alaalatoa regularly got the better of the England number one at scrum time who struggled to adjust.
Modern-day scrums are very much an eight-man effort nowadays and one must not forget that Alaalatoa had a mammoth back-five behind that would have given him an added boost over Genge.
Nervous waits
The result means that Clermont put themselves in a good position to qualify for the Investec Champions Cup knockouts.
They face a nervous wait to see what comes off the clashes in Ireland and Italy with Leinster hosting Bath and Benetton tackling La Rochelle.
At best, Clermont go through to the round of 16 and at worst, they slide into the Challenge Cup knockouts but that would require two upsets.
As for Bristol, their involvement in the Challenge Cup solely rests with La Rochelle. If the French outfit breeze past Benetton denying the side a league point and winning by more than 21 points then the Bears will be off to the Challenge Cup knockout stages.
If Benetton keep it tight or even cause an upset, then Bristol’s EPCR season is over and Lam will have to turn all his focus to the Premiership.
Src: Planetrugby.com - https://www.planetrugby.com/news/clermont-v-bristol-five-takeaways-as-bridesmaids-bears-fall-short-in-marcel-michelin-madness
