RUGBY:CONDITIONS ARE liable to be far from feverish given the arctic forecast, but, fittingly, the Aviva has under-soil heating. Such are the high stakes and as is the nature of these back-to-back games, things are liable to become quite fiery.
Joe Schmidt laughed off the post-match comments from old mate Vern Cotter about Leinster showing Clermont a lack of respect last Sunday as a ploy to motivate his team. As Shane Jennings put it: “If you show teams too much respect you are obviously beaten before you go there, so you have to get the balance right. Of course we respect them.
“They have a quality squad and a quality side. They came over here last year and played very well. If we were being honest about it we probably didn’t deserve to win. We gave them the respect they deserved, that was all. We will do the same again this week. We certainly haven’t read into it or bought into it.”
Just as pertinent, though there were no public utterances from the Leinster camp, were the Clermont cheap shots, most notably the late hit by Loic Jacquet which pole-axed Jonathan Sexton in the build-up to Shane Horgan’s try and the way one of Jamie Heaslip’s lifters was shifted for his crash landing off a lineout take.
If the sparks fly again, Nigel Owens and his assistants may have a big role to play, and with the likelihood of a yellow card or two, stayin’ cool could be the key to stayin’ alive.
Schmidt said Leinster were “looking for improvement across the board” and pointed to “a couple of system errors in defence”, even though the tackling on some of Clermont’s key ball carriers, ie Sione Lauaki and Aurelien Rougerie, especially early on, was good. This made it a little surprising that Isaac Boss, whose early hit and turnover on Martin Scelzo helped set the defensive tone of which he was an integral part, has made way. But Eoin Reddan’s speed to the breakdown, slicker service and quickness, along with the more dynamic ball-carrying of Cian Healy and the return of Brian O’Driscoll, does signify a more positive approach.
Leinster were brave physically and also brave with the ball in the Auvergne last Sunday, but this selection suggests that true to the Schmidt style, they are even more determined to have a go. To this end he’d also like complete accuracy with their attacking lineouts, a “very motivated” and refreshed Healy to energise their scrum, along with a reprise of their “professional” breakdown work and the O’Driscoll factor adding “a little bit of mystery”.
“To be honest, all those areas have to be even better because Clermont will be doing their homework and getting angry, getting motivated to come over and really physically take us on at the set-pieces and at contact as well.”
Cotter’s selection confirms as much. Georgian prop Davit Zirakashvili replaces the injured Puma Scelzo, French lock Julien Pierre is recalled for his fellow “bleu” Loic Jacquet, as is the defensively more resolute Samoan Gavin Williams for Italian Gonzalo Canale in midfield. In all instances, it’s internationals in for internationals, with an all-Test bench save for 22-year-old prop Clement Ric.
They also await a late fitness test on flanker Alexandre Lapandry while Anthony Floch might return home if his wife goes into labour, in which case Benoit Baby will be promoted from the bench. Baby waits on the baby, as it were.
Schmidt dismisses his old team’s run of six successive away defeats on the basis this will be a game they’ve targeted. In France, you have to pace your season, and the consecutive wins over Toulouse and Leinster suggest Clermont are ratcheting things up.
“If that’s below par,” Schmidt said of last week’s high-octane affair, “I’d hate to think what they’re like when they hit their straps.”
Nevertheless, Clermont have won just six of 25 away games in the tournament over the years, and none in four attempts in Ireland, while Schmidt’s replacement from Perpignan, Franck Azema, appears to have focused more on defence. The start will tell a tale.
Mentally, Clermont were able to recover from the concession of fourth-minute seven pointers to Toulouse and Leinster, but that was at Stade Marcel Michelin, where they feel impregnable.
With over 44,000 tickets already sold and the remainder on sale at the usual outlets and at the ground today, a partisan home crowd can add to the buzz in the Leinster camp. All the more so if Heaslip lines out along with O’Driscoll and co and is good to go.
LEINSTER: I Nacewa; S Horgan, B O’Driscoll, G D’Arcy, F McFadden; J Sexton, E Reddan; C Healy, R Strauss, M Ross, L Cullen [capt], N Hines, S O’Brien, S Jennings, J Heaslip*. Replacements: J Harris-Wright, H Van Der Merwe, C Newland, D Toner, D Ryan, I Boss, S Berne, D Kearney.
*Late fitness test. If he is ruled out Dominic Ryan starts at number eight and Rhys Ruddock will join the bench.
ASM CLERMONT AUVERGNE: A Floch; N Nalaga, A Rougerie (capt), G Williams, J Malzieu; B James, M Parra; T Domingo, T Paulo, D Zirakashvili, J Pierre, T Privat, J Bonnaire, A Lapandry*, S Lauaki. Replacements: M Ledesma, L Faure, C Ric, L Jacquet, E Vermeulen, B Baby, K Senio, T Lavea.
*Late fitness test. If he is ruled out Alexandre Audebert will start at number seven.
Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales).
Previous meetings: (2002-03) Clermont 20 Leinster 23; Leinster 12 Clermont 9. (2009-10, q/f) Leinster 29 Clermont 28.
Results so far: Leinster: 38-22 v Racing (h); 25-23 v Saracens (a); 13-20 v Clermont (a). Clermont: 25-10 v Saracens (h); 9-16 v Racing (a); 20-13 v Leinster (h).
Leading points scorers: Leinster – J Sexton 33; Clermont – M Parra 20.
Leading try scorers: Leinster – SO’Brien, J Heaslip, R Strauss, R Kearney, F McFadden, J Sexton 1 each. Clermont – J Malzieu 2. Betting (Paddy Powers): ½ Leinster, 20/1 Draw, 13/8 Clermont. Handicap odds (Clermont +4pts) 10/11 Leinster, 20/1 Draw, 10/11 Clermont.
Forecast: Leinster to win.
