Clermont Auvergne snatch win over Sale and now face Saracens decider
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Version 0 of 1. Clermont Auvergne, a side who have made two semi-finals and a final in the past three seasons, left a chilly Salford on Saturday night looking anything but the team who are going to upset Saracens’ fortunes in the Massif Central next Sunday. Instead they snatched a scruffy victory in what often appeared merely the backdrop for a couple of players – Danny Cipriani, once of England, and Morgan Parra of France – seeking to rejuvenate stalled Test careers and the French scrum-half probably came out of it best if only because he spent most of the evening on the front foot. But the game remained strangely lifeless for 50 minutes before Sale were awarded a penalty try and Jamie Cudmore, the Clermont lock, joined his team-mate Wesley Fofana in the sin-bin. From three points down at the interval Sale had edged four points ahead before a flurry of penalties, three for Camille Lopez – currently the France No10 of choice – and a second for Cipriani, put Clermont two points clear with 10 minutes to go and the long-promised snow finally arriving. Six minutes later Clermont finally got up the head of steam that had been missing for 76 minutes, No8 Fritz Lee crashing over and Lopez completing a perfect kicking performance worth 17 points. With Saracens having thrashed Munster 33-10 three hours before the kick-off here, next week’s game in the Massif Central becomes winner takes all with a quarter final at stake. But not for Sale. They lost interest in qualification some time ago, despite giving both Munster and Saracens a scare at the AJ Bell Stadium and in some respects it was surprising that Steve Diamond put out such a strong side in a lost cause. Instead of resting his stars, Diamond pressed Nathan Hines, Johnny Leota, Sam Tuitupou, Chris Cusiter, Dan Braid and, of course, Cipriani, into service, hoping to build on last Saturday’s victory over the Premiership leaders, Northampton. It was after that game that Cipriani spoke to Lancaster. It is understood that the England head coach liked what he had seen but made no promises and it seems likely that the 27-year-old will turn out for the Saxons against Ireland Wolfhounds at Cork a week next Friday rather than be part of the England squad for Cardiff a week later. Whether that will be enough to satisfy Cipriani and keep him in England when his three-year contract with Sale runs out in the summer remains to be seen. Diamond thinks not and, with Toulon interested, Cipriani has to decide whether he feathers his financial nest or persists with Test ambitions when a series of stellar performances have done nothing to lift his rating – in Lancaster’s eyes at least – above fourth best English No10, behind George Ford, Owen Farrell and Stephen Myler. Initially it was Lopez, currently the France No 10, who caught the eye, pulling Benson Stanley on to a short ball before attempting a break himself as Clermont set up camp in Sale territory. In reply Sale laid down their cards, making a mess of the first French scrum and then winning a free-kick to redress the territorial balance. However Lopez came roaring back. A long floated pass found Aurélien Rougerie in space and the former captain’s short ball took Wesley Fofana to within a whisker and won a kickable penalty, which Lopez converted. Rougerie left the field to be replaced by Jonathan Davies. Two minutes later Cipriani was on the board, landing a penalty from bang in front. It was not a pretty thing and limped over the bar but it was the fly-half’s 10th success from 10 attempts in the competition. After that it was Nick Abendanon, the Bath full-back who went to Clermont because of a lack of interest from England, who became increasingly involved, first making a 40-metre break and then trying a couple of ambitious chip-and-chases, then ghosting up outside Lopez to release Noa Nakaitaci, the new wing in France’s Six Nations squad. However, if French pressure was building, there were few first-half points to reflect it, Lopez adding a second penalty on 37 minutes to ease Clermont back into the lead. Instead Sale had their moment early in the second half, Cipriani turning down a kickable penalty in the hope of something better. On cue Sale took the lineout through Hines, until recently of Clermont, and the forwards rumbled on with Ian Davies running under the posts and Hines’ old sparring partner going to the sin-bin. |