Battle-hardened Clermont sink Saracens after titanic struggle
SARACENS boss Mark McCall showered praise on his players after they went toe-to-toe with French heavyweights Clermont Auvergne before bowing out of this season’s European Champions Cup.
Saracens delivered a brave and battling display at Stade Geoffroy-Guichard to end English representation in this season’s competition.
France star Wesley Fofana scored the game’s solitary try just after half-time as Clermont prevailed 13-9 to reach their second final in three seasons but Saracens were left to reflect on what might have been following a performance packed with courage and intent.
‘I thought the effort and many, many aspects of the performance were phenomenal,’ rugby director McCall said.
‘We made Clermont play a game that they didn’t really want to play.
‘The game was on a knife-edge all the way through. We made maybe a few too many errors at crucial times, but in terms of the big things that we judge ourselves on, we were magnificent.
‘In the starting pack, there were five players who were 24 and under, which is unbelievably young for a competition like this, but all of them are ready. They showed that today.
‘They are five young English players, and hopefully they are going to be the mainstay of our club for years to come.
‘The energy of the team and how we hunted them down, it was just one of those big titanic games. That young pack of forwards is going to get better and better after experiences like this.’
Charlie Hodgson and Owen Farrell each kicked penalties, while Hodgson also dropped a goal, but Clermont triumphed in front of a capacity 41,000 crowd through Fofana’s sweet finish, plus a Brock James conversion and two penalties.
Clermont did not remotely have things their own way, though, having arrived in the semi-finals following a 37-5 rout of reigning English champions Northampton a fortnight ago.
McCall added: ‘With 10 minutes to go, it was anybody’s game. We needed some field position, and we didn’t quite get that in the last 10 minutes.
‘It was the most amazing atmosphere I think I have ever experienced in international or club rugby.
‘Clermont are a club I have huge admiration for because of their ability to bounce back. They keep coming back for more. They have a pretty special group of players, and their public are amazing. If anybody deserves to win this trophy, it would be them.’
Saracens skipper Brad Barritt said: ‘We will look back in terms of the opportunities we had in their half from set-pieces where we weren’t quite up to it in terms of getting the ball out and having a go.
‘There were a few chances we probably left out there.
‘In big games like this, it is about small margins. Often, it is the team that takes that small chance which comes out the victor.
‘Today was a pretty special atmosphere. As far as club rugby goes, I haven’t experienced anything like that.’
It was not pretty, and there was little gilt-edged attacking rugby from either team, yet it proved to be absorbing, attritional battle that ultimately went Clermont’s way.
‘Saracens are a very pragmatic and efficient team,’ Clermont head coach Franck Azema said. ‘I was impressed by our collective maturity against a robust team that tries to put pressure on the opposition.
‘The atmosphere was very emotional, and of course, we wanted to take full advantage of that.’ CLermont Auvergne: Abendanon; Nakaitaci, Davies, Fofana, Nalaga (Rougerie 74min); James, Radosavljevic (Parra 54); Debaty (Chaume 73), Kayser (Ulugia 66), Zirakashvili, Cudmore, Vahaamahina, Bonnaire, Bardy (Lapandry 55), Chouly. Scorers − try: Fofana. Con: James. Pen: James. SArACenS: Goode; Ashton, Bosch, Barritt, Wyles (Strettle 73); Hodgson (Farrell 57), Wigglesworth (De Kock 68); M Vunipola (Gill 73), George (Brits 50), Du Plessis (Johnston 50), Kruis, J Hamilton, Itoje, Burger (Brown 74), B Vunipola. Scorers − Pens: Hodgson, Farrell. Dropped goal: Hodgson. referee: G Clancy (IRFU).