In a meeting largely dominated by Usap, the Olympic champion was a tireless leader while the Catalan forwards, like Giorgi Beria, won the showdown. On the Clermont side, Kylan Hamdaoui had a day without, among others…
The tops
- Jefferson-Lee Joseph : 8,5/10
Aimé-Giral is already under the spell of Jefferson-Lee Joseph. And there is reason: the gold medalist from Paris was very visible for his premiere in the blood and gold cathedral. Before scoring with opportunism and mischief the attempt for the offensive bonus, on a pursuit sequence, the former Agenais had multiplied with happiness: each of his ball catches had sowed disorder in the Clermont defense (six defenders beaten , two crossings). Proof that he is much more than a talented attacker, he distinguished himself just as much in the game without the ball: in defense, he was determined and tenacious to face Raka and company (9/9 in tackles). A full match like a great promise.
The Frenchman recalled the good memories of his ex-partners. Within a dominating packthe left pillar was conquering, whether in scrum – against Michael Ala’alatoa, all the same – or in the running game where we saw him charge on many occasions. His slaughter in defense is also worth noting.
The flops
It all started badly for the ex-Parisian who, after four short minutes of play, already wasted a testing opportunity by not serving Léon Darricarrère inside. In the 19th minute, the Clermont full-back poorly controlled a ball in the deep field, nevertheless initiated a suicidal restart and served the hot potato to his teammate Joris Jurand who was pinned by Jeronimo de la Fuente, well mounted in defense. A few seconds later, Naqalevu scored the second Catalan try… A heavy toll for just one man, in the first half alone which completely ruined the Clermontois…
Despite his impressive size, the great German international did not carry much weight in the ground game of his team, which was outrageously dominated throughout the game in this sector. So of course, Oskar Rixen cannot be considered the only one at fault, but he appeared overwhelmed by the pace and aggressiveness of the Catalans, like many of his teammates from the Clermont pack. His replacement, Thomas Ceyte, was not much more visible. The ex-Bayonnais was notably sadly noticed by tapping the ball from the hands of a Catalan while the game was stopped, taking behind ten meters justified by the referee Ludovic Cayre…
Notes from Perpignan:
15. Antoine Aucagne: 7/10
14. Jefferson-Lee Joseph : 8,5/10
13. Abishai Naqalevu : 7/10
12. Jeronimo De La Fuente: 6/10
11. Lucas Dubois : 6/10
10. Jake McIntyre : 6,5/10
9. Tom Ecochard : 6.5/10
7. Lucas Bachelier : 7/10
8. Lucas Velarte: 6.5/10
6. Jacobus Van Tonder : 7/10
5. Posolo Tuilagi: not rated replaced in the 17th by Adrion Warion: 5.5/10
4. Marvin Orie : 5.5/10
3. Kieran Brookes : 6/10
2. Seila Lam : 5,5/10
1. Giorgi Beria: 7.5/10
Clermont’s notes:
15. Kylan Hamdaoui : 3/10
14. Joris Jurand : 4/10
13. Léon Darricarrère: 6/10
12. George Moala: not rated
11. Aliveret Raka : 4/10
10. Anthony Belleau : 4/10
9. Sébastien Bézy: 4/10
8. Fritz Lee : 5/10
7. Pita-Gus Sowakula: 4/10
6. Antime Hemery: not rated
5. Oskar Rixen : 3/10
4. Thibaud Lanen: 4.5/10
3. Michael Ala’alatoa : 4/10
2. Barnabas Massa: 4.5/10
1. Sacha Lotrian : 4/10
