Clermont whitewash Benetton

MATCH REPORT: French club Clermont got their European campaign off to the perfect start, with a bonus-point 28-0 win over Italian rivals Benetton at Stade Marcel-Michelin on Saturday.

Peceli Yato and Barnabe Massa both scored a brace for the home team.

Clermont Auvergne made five changes from their emphatic 54-10 win over Castres Olympique in the TOP 14, with key actors Barnabe Massa and Ben Urdapilleta retaining their spots for the Italian side’s visit.

Benetton made wholesale changes following last week’s 33-50 loss to Edinburgh, including returning Italian international Seb Negri to the starting line-up.

The hosts got off to a perfect start – a Sebastian Negri yellow card reduced the visitors to 14 payers.

Clermont then got a Peceli Yato try within the opening 10 minutes.

They managed to maintain this lead all the while fending off a bright spell for Benetton, before adding to their tally through two Barnabe Massa tries, both duly converted by Ben Urdapilleta.

The French side led the visitors by 21-0 at half-time.

Benetton were clearly determined to reduce the deficit after coming out from half-time, with the Italian side keen to get forward whenever possible.

This was soon stamped out by the hosts, however, who soon showed their might over the Italians.

Clermont always looked a threat from their counter attacks, but Benetton managed to remain watertight until the latter stages of the affair.

The breakthrough came in the 76th minute when Peceli Yato joined Barnabé Massa on two tries for the afternoon.

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The Stade Marcel-Michelin erupts! 🤩

Peceli Yato powers across the line for @ASMOfficiel first try of the game 😮‍💨

Watch LIVE on @beinsports_FR, https://t.co/QLe7qHpE2L, @PremSportsTV, @SuperSportTV, @FloRugby 📺 pic.twitter.com/s1lkjswYPZ

— Investec Champions Cup (@ChampionsCup) December 7, 2024

The scorers

For Clermont Auvergne
Tries: Yato 2, Massa 2
Cons: Urdapilleta 3

For Benetton
None

Yellow cards: Sebastian Negri (Benetton, 7), Alivereti Raka (Clermont, 79)

Teams:

Clermont: 15 Alex Newsome, 14 Lucas Tauzin, 13 Mathys Belaubre, 12 Pierre Fouyssac, 11 Alivereti Raka, 10 Ben Urdapilleta, 9 Sebastien Bezy, 8 Fritz Lee (captain), 7 Marcos Kremer, 6 Killian Tixeront, 5 Thomas Ceyte, 4 Peceli Yato, 3 Regis Montagne, 2 Barnabe Massa, 1 Etienne Falgoux.
Replacements: 16 Etienne Fourcade, 17 Giorgi Akhaladze, 18 Michael Ala’alatoa, 19 Anthime Hemery, 20 Alexandre Fischer, 21 Baptiste Jauneau, 22 Theo Giral, 23 Irae Simone.

Benetton: 15 Leonardo Marin, 14 Louis Lynagh, 13 Nacho Brex, 12 Tommaso Menoncello, 11 Onisi Ratave, 10 Tomas Albornoz, 9 Alessandro Garbisi, 8 Simon Koroiyadi, 7 Manuel Zuliani, 6 Sebastian Negri, 5 Federico Ruzza (c), 4 Niccolo Cannone, 3 Simone Ferrari, 2 Agustin Creevy, 1 Thomas Gallo.
Replacements: 16 Bautista Bernasconi, 17 Mirco Spagnolo, 18 Tiziano Pasquali, 19 Riccardo Favretto, 20 Alessandro Izekor, 21 Toa Halafihi, 22 Lautaro Bazan Velez, 23 Jacob Umaga.

Referee: Christophe Ridley (England)
Assistant referees: Matthew Carley (England), Simon Harding (England)
TMO: Ian Tempest (England)

Source: @ChampionsCup