LEINSTER COACH Joe Schmidt will renew acquaintances with a Clermont Auvergne club with whom he was a backs’ coach for three years from 2007 to 2010.
Leinster will face the French side in the 34,000-capacity Stade Chaban-Delmas in Bordeaux in a Heineken Cup semi-final on Sunday, April 29th (3pm Irish time), following Clermont’s 22-3 victory yesterday over Saracens at Vicarage Road.
There will be another reunion of sorts as Nathan Hines, a European Cup winner with Leinster last season, will most likely be in the Clermont ranks in three weeks’ time. Schmidt admitted: “They know me pretty well. Hinesy [Nathan Hines] knows me pretty well as well; he even knows our lineout calls, although I don’t reckon he could remember them when he was here, so that might give us an advantage,” he smiled. “He’s a super player; he was great for us last year. . . I suppose the good thing about going to Clermont is the game is in Bordeaux, which means they have to travel as well as us. That is a pretty foreign field for them. I know maybe three years ago we [Schmidt was with Clermont] beat Toulouse 19-9 in a [French championship] semi-final in Bordeaux.
“That is the only other experience I have of playing in Bordeaux. I know that the changing rooms are a good 90 seconds to two-minute walk . . . we actually stayed on the field at half-time of that game . . . But 15-minute half-times in the Heineken Cup means we probably have time; get some golf carts and get the boys back in the changing rooms.”
The ticket allocation for both teams is split 50/50 after corporate and tournament organiser requirements, which should ensure about 15,000 available to Leinster supporters.
