Clermont see off Toulon
Noa Nakaitaci's try on the hour mark was the crucial moment, and the boot of Morgan Parra and Camille Lopez combined with a late breakaway try from replacement Damian Penaud took Clermont home.
Toulon had just three penalties from Leigh Halfpenny to show for their efforts, as their dreams of a fourth European title in five seasons disappeared.
The wet weather at the Stade Marchel Michelin didn't help either team to play, and the two sides turned around level at 6-6 with the boot dominating the contest.
Parra and Halfpenny succeeded with two shots at goal apiece, but both were guilty of misses which could have put their team in a better position.
In the end, level pegging at half time was a fair result, with both sides struggling to get their backs into the game.
Camille Lopez put a drop goal effort wide for the home side just before the break, but it was Clermont who totally dominated the second period.
Halfpenny could only add one more penalty for the visitors, Parra also on the scoresheet again, before at 9-9 Clermont struck for the game's vital score.
Aurelien Rougerie smashed through a couple of Toulon tackles, giving the home side the platform for Lopez to put Nakaitaci into the corner.
Parra converted and with that the game was done.
That wasn't the end of the scoring though as Clermont put their stamp on the game late on.
After missing with a penalty effort, Parra then added another three-pointer and converted Penaud's late try after he sprinted clear to add gloss to the scoreline.
Man of the Match: Morgan Parra, the scrumhalf's boot kept his side's score ticking and was instrumental in everything for Clermont.
The scorers:
For Clermont:
Tries: Nakaitaci, Penaud
Cons: Parra 2
Pens: Parra 4
DG: Lopez
For Toulon:
Pens: Halfpenny 3
Clermont: 15 Scott Spedding, 14 Noa Nakaitaci, 13 Aurélien Rougerie, 12 Rémi Lamerat, 11 Nick Abendanon, 10 Camille Lopez, 9 Morgan Parra, 8 Fritz Lee, 7 Peceli Yato, 6 Damien Chouly, 5 Sébastien Vahaamahina, 4 Arthur Iturria, 3 Davit Zirakashvili, 2 Benjamin Kayser, 1 Raphaël Chaume.
Replacements: 16 John Ulugia, 17 Etienne Falgoux, 18 Aaron Jarvis, 19 Flip van der Merwe, 20 Judicaël Cancoriet, 21 Ludovic Radosavljevic , 22 Pato Fernandez, 23 Damien Penaud.
Toulon: 15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 Drew Mitchell, 13 Mathieu Bastareaud, 12 Ma'a Nonu, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 François Trinh-Duc, 9 Éric Escande, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Liam Gill, 6 Juan Smith, 5 Romain Taofifénua, 4 Juandré Kruger, 3 Levan Chilachava, 2 Guilhem Guirado, 1 Laurent Delboulbès.
Replacements: 16 Anthony Etrillard, 17 Florian Fresia, 18 Marcel van der Merwe, 19 Juan Martín Fernández Lobbe, 20 Anthony Belleau, 21 Josua Tuisova, 22 Sébastien Tillous-Borde, 23 Samu Manoa.
Referee: Wayne Barnes (England)
Assistant referees: Tom Foley (England), Paul Dix (England)
TMO: Rowan Kitt (England)
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