SHOULD LEINSTER be in the semi-finals come tomorrow afternoon, then this will be of acute interest to them. Their supporters and, if only privately, their head coach and squad, would prefer a Saracens win and a trek to Twickenham rather than Bordeuax.
Not only would Joe Schmidt probably not relish coming up against his former employers, but given the expanding Irish diaspora in London tens of thousands of Leinster supporters would attend Twickenham. Leinster also beat Saracens in Wembley last season.
Following last week’s defeat in front of a world record crowd (83,761) at Wembley to Harlequins, Mark McCall welcomes back prop Rhys Gill and centre Brad Barritt, and England’s sole survivors will test Clermont’s dodgy away mentality with their ultra-physical South African-infused, hard-hitting, straight-running rugby.
Therein lies the rub, as for all Clermont’s talent, in 30 Heineken Cup ties on the road they have only won seven – and three of those were in Italy. Admittedly one was here last season.
Morgan Parra is fit to partner David Skrela at half-back, as Vern Cotter looks for solid foundations, while Sitiveni Sivivatu returns on the wing. Parra has the best kicking percentages of any player in the tournament and Julien Malzieu has beaten more defenders (23) and made more clean breaks (16). Provided their set-pieces hold up, Clermont’s challenge for once might not fade.
SARACENS: A Goode; D Strettle, O Farrell, B Barritt, C Wyles; C Hodgson, R Wigglesworth; R Gill, S Brits, M Stevens, S Borthwick [capt], M Botha, J Melck, W Fraser, E Joubert. Replacements: J George, M Vunipola, C Nieto, G Kruis, J Wray, N de Kock, A Powell, J Short.
ASM Clermont Auvergne: L Byrne; S Sivivatu, W Fofana, A Rougerie [capt], J Malzieu; D Skrela, M Parra; L Faure, B Kayser, D Zirakashvili, J Cudmore, N Hines, J Bonnaire, A Lapandry, E Vermeulen Replacements: T Paulo, V Debaty, D Kotze, J Pierre, J Bardy, L Radoslavjevic, B James, J Buttin.
Referee: Alain Rolland (Ireland).
Forecast: Clermont to win.
