AURÉLIEN ROUGERIE HAS WARNED his Clermont Auvergne team-mates to be ready for big hits and brutal intensity when Ulster land in France this weekend.
Brian McLaughlin’s men took a huge scalp when they dumped the Leicester Tigers out of the Heineken Cup last weekend with a 41-7 mauling at Ravenhill, and now they’ve set their sights on ending Clermont’s European dreams.
Ulster currently sit on top of Pool 4 with 19 points, three ahead of Clermont who kept themselves in the hunt for a quarter-final place by running in 12 tries against Aironi in Monza.
The sides meet at the Stade Marcel Michelin on Saturday and a repeat of the season’s first fixture — a 16-11 win for Ulster in Belfast — or a draw would see the Irish province top the group, while even a defeat could see them progress to the knockout stages as one of the two best runners-up.
“We had a glimpse last November of just what Ulster are capable of achieving but they have evolved since then,” said Rougerie (see ESPNScrum.com).
We already know they are great battlers and physically strong so, on that level at least, we will have to measure up, then we have the remainder of this week to put our tactics in place.
Ulster travel to France on the back of six wins from their last seven games in all competitions, leaving Rougerie and Clermont with few illusions about the task which faces them on Saturday.
“We will prepare this week bearing in mind that Ulster gave Leicester Tigers a rough ride in Belfast at the weekend, so that speaks volume of their form,” the Clermont skipper said.
Saturday’s game will be a totally different situation from last weekend in Italy because we will be facing another type of team – on this occasion a really tough one.
