La Rochelle, mishandled by a catchy Clermont team, provided the essentials on Saturday (20-15) at the opening of the 12th day of Top 14, at the end of a long conflicting and indecisive meeting.
Despite this success, the Maritimes remain in the ranking behind the Jaunards who, with the defensive bonus won, remain 3rd, awaiting the matches in Toulon and Bayonne.
After the two weeks of the Champions Cup which smiled more on Rochelais (two victories against Bath and Bristol) than on ASM (a victory against Treviso and an honorable defeat at Leinster), the return to the ordinary of the championship has sharpened the spirits. Fight, tension with a ready man of the match, Pierre Brousset.
Thomas shines again
The only tricolor whistle retained for the next Six Nations Tournament, the referee had a lot of work in this clash of contenders, with several calls for video, six yellow cards distributed (three on each side), as well as a reprimand to the Irish local manager Ronan O'Gara.
As a result, the pace was affected, especially in the first period with few gains. Fortunately for the show, the first real one initiated by the pair of La Rochelle centers ended with a try from Teddy Thomas escaping a tackle (17).
The caravel club thought they had done the hard part a quarter of an hour later when Ultan Dillane escaped from a maul formation to score his first try in 62 appearances in the yellow and black jersey (17 -3, 33).
Clermont remained threatening
It was without counting on these Clermontois who came with a lot of intentions, which materialized at the restart with a penalty try, following a voluntary forward as the last defender of Thomas Berjon (44 ). During the following numerical inferiority, Grégory Alldritt's teammates initially defended well a visiting maul with 11 players.
They gave themselves a little breathing room with a penalty from Ihaia West but not enough because in the next action, Alivereti Raka, at the end of the line after a well-constructed sequence with entrants contributing their contribution, put the ball back. doubt in the spans of Deflandre (20-15, 55).
Sensing the playable shot, Christophe Urios' men insisted and put the pressure on, seeking the jackpot on penalty kicks. But faced with what is surely the best in the Top 14 in defense of carried balls, they failed in their quest, their last attempt two minutes from time finishing well behind the line but without any Clermontois flattening.
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