HAVING FINALLY won the French championship in 2010 after losing 10 finals in a row, Clermont Auvergne must have thought they had shed the nearly men tag once and for all.

But at the Stade Chaban Delmas in Bordeaux yesterday, some awful memories would have came flooding back as they watched Wesley Fofana denied a try at the death.

The margins could not have been much finer. Never mind inches, Vern Cotter’s side were a couple of fingertips, millimetres away from reaching the Heineken Cup final for the first time.

In the build-up to this game the players insisted that they had put an equally dramatic quarter-final defeat at the RDS two years ago behind them. And yet once again Leinster escaped with a win.

“When we were on top and didn’t get a reward at the end, it’s difficult,” Cotter said. “I think it’ll take a while for us to get over this game.”

Like the rest of his team, Cotter thought his side had got what would have been the match-winning try when Fofana finally breached the Leinster line with seconds remaining.

“It was difficult to see from where I was. I saw the reaction of the players and it seemed to me like we’d scored a try. The referee asked for the video. I haven’t seen the images yet but he decided that there was no try. We went again and we pounded the line again for two or three minutes, but without scoring unfortunately.”

Fofana said afterwards he felt he’d done enough for a try to be awarded and captain Aurelien Rougerie had also believed that Clermont’s incessant late pressure was going to pay off.

“We said to ourselves that it was possible that they would crack and that we were going to score. Wesley was only missing a couple of millimetres to finish it.”

Former Leinster secondrow Nathan Hines was not on the field for the dramatic ending but he said his new side had paid for switching off after the interval.

“We could have won that game – we haven’t got any excuses or anything – we just didn’t defend well enough just after half-time.”

The move that resulted in Cian Healy’s crucial second-half try was one that Hines recognised from his days in Ireland.

“It was well played and once they had a bit of a lead I think they got a penalty just after as well. So 10 points, with the wind, Jonny was always going to put it down in our half and we just found it hard to get out.

“We got out because of a penalty and I don’t think we got too many penalties in the second half. That’s one of the strengths of Leinster. They don’t give away too many penalties and when you’re camped in your own half you’re not going to get a piggy back out.”

The man who famously missed the crucial drop goals in Clermont’s 29-28 defeat in Dublin two years ago turned away in disgust when he learned Fofana’s try had not been granted. But did Brock James feel that this time his team deserved to beat Leinster?

“The last five minutes you’d probably say yes, but beforehand I don’t think we were as precise as we needed to be,” the Clermont outhalf said. “We did a lot of good work and then just sloppy dropped ball really made it hard for us in the last 20 minutes. They just kept turning us around, putting us back in our 22 and having to work out from there is quite difficult.”

Despite the heartbreak, Cotter was optimistic about the future. “I think we’re maybe 95 per cent there,” he said. “There are just two or three details to fix to really reach a milestone and win a game against Leinster. There are a lot of positive things to take from the match even though right now we’re disappointed.”