ASM CLERMONT AUVERGNE may not be the force of old – when they were Champions Cup runners-up in 2013, 2015, and 2017, as well as Top 14 winners in 2017 – yet their home of Stade Marcel-Michelin remains a must-visit rugby venue.
Les Jaune et Bleu used to be nigh on unbeatable at their home in the city of Clermont-Ferrand. That’s not the case any longer. Indeed, Christophe Urios’ men lost there on Saturday as Bordeaux pipped them on a 23-22 scoreline.
Yet the Marcel-Michelin is still a fantastic ground that hosts wonderfully passionate fans. It will be a real thrill for the Leinster squad to play there this Saturday as they visit in their opening Champions Cup pool game.
Leo Cullen knows the place from the era when Clermont and Leinster were real rivals in the Champions Cup. He’s excited for his team to visit this weekend.
“It’s such an amazing venue over there,” said Cullen on Saturday after Leinster’s URC win over Cardiff.
“You talk about grounds, how steep those stands are, how you feel quite enclosed. They’re a proud club, Clermont.
“It was always the challenge for us at the start of the season. The Top 14, that’s their sixth game there today now, so they’re well and truly up and running.
“Whereas our guys, a lot of them played their first game today. But we need to get ready for that cauldron that we’re going into next week.
“Because it’s one of the great places to play in European club rugby, Champions Cup club rugby. So we need to really embrace the challenge and rip into the week that we have coming up.
“Clermont, it’s one of the cooler places I’ve played. It’s been a long time since we’ve been there, Leinster. So most of our guys won’t have played there previously.
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“You’d be surprised if any of them have played there previously. But it’s a great rugby ground and it means a lot in the town, so it does. It’s a proper test for us now.”
Stade Marcel-Michelin in Clermont-Ferrand. Dave Winter / INPHO
Dave Winter / INPHO / INPHO
Clermont have been back in Top 14 action since 5 September, so they’ve had ample opportunity to prepare for this weekend’s clash with Leinster, for whom nine of the starting XV against Cardiff were playing for the first time this season.
That was understandably evident in Leinster’s performance, which started in flowing fashion and then hit some speed bumps as the returning Ireland internationals struggled to stay on the same page.
The biggest improvement Cullen hopes for this week is how Leinster stick things together in attack.
“Just the cohesion around attack combinations there is probably the big thing, isn’t it?” said Cullen.
“Where we just coughed the ball a little bit too cheaply, that’s probably the big thing, I think.
“It’s just making sure we value possession properly, and we look after it and make opposition teams work harder defensively for longer.”
It seems obvious that Leinster would have longer with their frontline Ireland internationals available to play before the Champions Cup gets underway, but Cullen wasn’t in the mood for complaining on Saturday.
He did, however, note that the Irish provinces have had a slow start to the season, with all four of them outside the top eight of the URC after three rounds.
“That’s just the hand that we have, we just need to do what we can,” said Cullen.
“But it’s been a bit of a slow start from the four provinces in many ways. We’ve had three wins between us, between four teams over the first three rounds. It’s not a great return.
“Listen, we are where we are now. We just need to get fully focused on the challenge, which is hugely exciting.”
Leinster head coach Leo Cullen. Grace Halton / INPHO
Grace Halton / INPHO / INPHO
Clermont, who narrowly missed out on top six and the play-offs in the Top 14 last season, sit 11th in their league table after the opening six rounds.
They have lost away to Lyon, Bayonne and La Rochelle, as well as at home to Bordeaux on Saturday. Their two wins have come at home against Stade Français and Castres.
Cullen will expect the usual set-piece test in France, so he was pleased to see Leinster going well in that area against Cardiff on Saturday night.
He also enjoyed how one passage of play in the first half went on for over four minutes, pushing the returning internationals’ fitness.
It’s likely to be a familiar-looking Leinster team that takes to the field at the Marcel-Michelin, although it will be interesting to see if lock Joe McCarthy gets another chance to move to blindside flanker, as he did late on against Cardiff.
“We were curious ourselves, yeah,” said Cullen. “I’ll have a look back at what it looked like.
“That’s the thing at the start of the season, we have experimented with quite a few different things as well, and seeing Joe running around at 6 there, which is something we have seen, as in experimented with ourselves before.”
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Leinster aim for cohesion ahead of visit to the 'cauldron' in Clermont
ASM CLERMONT AUVERGNE may not be the force of old – when they were Champions Cup runners-up in 2013, 2015, and 2017, as well as Top 14 winners in 2017 – yet their home of Stade Marcel-Michelin remains a must-visit rugby venue.
Les Jaune et Bleu used to be nigh on unbeatable at their home in the city of Clermont-Ferrand. That’s not the case any longer. Indeed, Christophe Urios’ men lost there on Saturday as Bordeaux pipped them on a 23-22 scoreline.
Yet the Marcel-Michelin is still a fantastic ground that hosts wonderfully passionate fans. It will be a real thrill for the Leinster squad to play there this Saturday as they visit in their opening Champions Cup pool game.
Leo Cullen knows the place from the era when Clermont and Leinster were real rivals in the Champions Cup. He’s excited for his team to visit this weekend.
“It’s such an amazing venue over there,” said Cullen on Saturday after Leinster’s URC win over Cardiff.
“You talk about grounds, how steep those stands are, how you feel quite enclosed. They’re a proud club, Clermont.
“It was always the challenge for us at the start of the season. The Top 14, that’s their sixth game there today now, so they’re well and truly up and running.
“Whereas our guys, a lot of them played their first game today. But we need to get ready for that cauldron that we’re going into next week.
“Because it’s one of the great places to play in European club rugby, Champions Cup club rugby. So we need to really embrace the challenge and rip into the week that we have coming up.
“Clermont, it’s one of the cooler places I’ve played. It’s been a long time since we’ve been there, Leinster. So most of our guys won’t have played there previously.
“You’d be surprised if any of them have played there previously. But it’s a great rugby ground and it means a lot in the town, so it does. It’s a proper test for us now.”
Clermont have been back in Top 14 action since 5 September, so they’ve had ample opportunity to prepare for this weekend’s clash with Leinster, for whom nine of the starting XV against Cardiff were playing for the first time this season.
That was understandably evident in Leinster’s performance, which started in flowing fashion and then hit some speed bumps as the returning Ireland internationals struggled to stay on the same page.
The biggest improvement Cullen hopes for this week is how Leinster stick things together in attack.
“Just the cohesion around attack combinations there is probably the big thing, isn’t it?” said Cullen.
“Where we just coughed the ball a little bit too cheaply, that’s probably the big thing, I think.
“It’s just making sure we value possession properly, and we look after it and make opposition teams work harder defensively for longer.”
It seems obvious that Leinster would have longer with their frontline Ireland internationals available to play before the Champions Cup gets underway, but Cullen wasn’t in the mood for complaining on Saturday.
He did, however, note that the Irish provinces have had a slow start to the season, with all four of them outside the top eight of the URC after three rounds.
“That’s just the hand that we have, we just need to do what we can,” said Cullen.
“But it’s been a bit of a slow start from the four provinces in many ways. We’ve had three wins between us, between four teams over the first three rounds. It’s not a great return.
“Listen, we are where we are now. We just need to get fully focused on the challenge, which is hugely exciting.”
Clermont, who narrowly missed out on top six and the play-offs in the Top 14 last season, sit 11th in their league table after the opening six rounds.
They have lost away to Lyon, Bayonne and La Rochelle, as well as at home to Bordeaux on Saturday. Their two wins have come at home against Stade Français and Castres.
Cullen will expect the usual set-piece test in France, so he was pleased to see Leinster going well in that area against Cardiff on Saturday night.
He also enjoyed how one passage of play in the first half went on for over four minutes, pushing the returning internationals’ fitness.
It’s likely to be a familiar-looking Leinster team that takes to the field at the Marcel-Michelin, although it will be interesting to see if lock Joe McCarthy gets another chance to move to blindside flanker, as he did late on against Cardiff.
“We were curious ourselves, yeah,” said Cullen. “I’ll have a look back at what it looked like.
“That’s the thing at the start of the season, we have experimented with quite a few different things as well, and seeing Joe running around at 6 there, which is something we have seen, as in experimented with ourselves before.”
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Clermont Leinster Leo Cullen Marcel Michelin understanding