TheRUGBYPaper Clermont tame the Bears in 12-try thriller at Ashton Gate
CLERMONT, as ever searching for that elusive first Heineken Champions Cup, poured on the power and quality at Ashton Gate to kick-start their latest campaign in spectacular fashion.
In a hight tempo game featuring 12 tries – many of them crackers – Clermont were always in charge but that should not detract from a gutsy Bristol effort. Remarkably the home side were still chasing a losing bonus point at the death after an afternoon that would have seen many sides run up the white flag.
With very few of their squad involved in the Autumn Nations Cup there was a hunger and togetherness among the Clermont team that made them nigh on irresistible.
The carnage began early on with an absolute peach from Kotaro Matsushima after thrilling work down the left from Apisai Naqalevu, Damian Penaud and Alivereti Raka.
Matsushima looks like being the first Japanese player to really make an impact in European club rugby, others have tried and for whatever reason fallen short.
With the wind in their sails Clermont quickly added a second try through the excellent Naqalevu and yet more exceptional work in the backs, before Penaud steamed over for another glorious try.
You feared for Bristol but then came the morale boost of a fine try by Max Malins who cut a perfect line onto Callum Sheedy’s pass to race through. There was hope.
Clermont were still in top gear, though, and answered quickly with a second, even better try from Matsushima which delivered the BP and seemingly the match even at that early stage.
However, Bristol were finally getting a toehold in the game and soon produced a textbook lineout rumble for Bryan Byrne to score. The visitors sensed a possible sea change and opted to kick a simple penalty in front of the posts on the stroke of half-time rather than attempt anything more ambitious.
After the break Sheedy and Lopez swapped penalties and then, just for a moment or two, a genuine comeback seemed possible when Harry Randall swooped for a try after sensational work down the left by Malins and Henry Purdy, who did supremely well to stay in field and then somehow lay the ball back.
Sheedy’s conversion saw Bristol trail by just eight points but Clermont – who can go AWOL sometimes – immediately sensed the danger and upped their game again.
Penaud claimed a second after Morgan Parra – with the safety net of playing advantage – saw his big wing being marked by the diminutive Randall on the right wing and threw a high looping, teasing, pass that had the same effect as a high kick.
There was only one winner of that contest and Clermont proceeded to ruthlessly put the game away with a classic try from Fritz Lee when they hammered away down the blindside before suddenly upping the power to score.
A hat-trick try for Matsushima further garnished victory but Bristol were determined to register a try bonus and with the impressive Malins spelling danger every time he attacked they were increasingly difficult to resist.
First he created a try for Ioan Lloyd from a tapped penalty and then the confusion he sewed in midfield created the opportunity for Siale Piutau to strike.
“We have got to fix the things we didn’t get right. We worked hard to be here, and it is great to be playing this sort of rugby against this sort of team.”
He added: “It was entertaining for neutrals, but you are asking for trouble when you give away 21 points in 16 minutes to a fully-loaded team like that.
“The thing that cost us was all our little mistakes. We had six turnovers in the first ten minutes, and little things like our defence over-folded and we didn’t look up. We worked our way back, but ultimately it was a bridge too far.”