Bias: Clermont look like champions
Montpellier are out but not down in the wake of the 14-36 quarterfinal defeat at Clermont Auvergne that ended their European Cup dreams for another season.
And back row forward Alexandre Bias believes they have gone out to the potential 2013 European champions who showed the clinical approach to go all the way and triumph in the final in Dublin on May 18.
"Clermont are going for the win in this competition," said Bias. "They have what it takes, they're prepared and they have been working on it for a couple of seasons now.
"We were in the game, we put pressure on them early on and scored penalty after penalty, whereas they scored a try on their first real opportunity. They were clinical.
"That's where the difference was. Had we scored on our first big opportunity, the game could have been a lot different.
"We tried to stick to our plan, but on one or two occasions they made huge differences while me missed a couple of tackles. Giving two tries away when you're actually dominating really hurt us and they gathered confidence from that.
"Sivivatu is an animal! What can I say? They have players in the backline that are bigger and stronger than their forwards. We missed tackles on those guys, and you really want to avoid that …when those guys break the line it's already too late.
"It got harder in the second half, because we felt like the game was being taken away from us. Despite that we kept playing and although we are disappointed we also know that Clermont might very well be the future European champions!"
