Munster poach a late point in France

 

Clermont looked to be home and dry while denying Munster anything as they scored three superb tries but the never-say-die Munster spirit at least earned them something at the death.

 

Munster had never lost the back-to-back Rounds Three and Four contests but Clermont became the first to do that double after their historic 16-9 win at Thomond Park a week earlier.

 

It means Clermont are now favourites for automatic quarterfinal qualification in going clear at top of a hugely competitive Pool One on 14 points ahead of Saracens on 13 points and Munster now trailing on 10 points with the Irish team facing contests against Saracens and Sale Sharks to come next month.

 

Munster admitted they had been bullied at Thomond Park in Round Three when Clermont ended Munster Rugby's 100 percent record against French teams at home, a run that had previously seen Munster win all 23 games against French visitors.

 

Clermont became the first French side to conquer the Munster fortress with their 16-9 triumph but what a difference a week can make as Munster were the ones producing the early intensity and pressure – not to mention most of the rugby.

 

Meanwhile, Wasps said farewell to Adams Park in real style 44-17 against Castres with Tom Varndell and Ben Jacobs each going over for two of the seven tries and outstanding No.8 Nathan Hughes collecting the final man-of-the-match award presented at the ground.

 

Collectively they backed up their bonus point 32-17 victory on the road at Castres a week earlier with yet another five pointer to make sure it will be a three-way fight with Leinster and Harlequins for Pool 2 honours.

 

The club had collected eight trophies in their 12-year stay at the ground – including two European crowns and a Challenge Cup triumph – and the High Wycombe venue was awash with emotion for the final match before the relocation to Coventry.

 

With the atmosphere one of a party nature from the off Dai Young's men took just four minutes to get the place really rocking.

 

Finally, Scarlets survived a late scare against Ulster to claim a 22-13 victory at Parc Y Scarlets and keep their European Rugby Champions Cup Pool 3 qualifying hopes alive.

 

The kicking of Rhys Priestland proved to be the difference between the two teams in a try-less first half, with the Wales international splitting the sticks on four occasions to leave his side with a fairly hefty lead at the interval.

 

 

 

 

Tries: Chouly 2, Nakaitaci

Con: Lopez

Pens: Lopez 3

 

Try: Casey

Con: Keatley

Pens: Keatley 4

Yellow Card: Jones

 

 

Clermont: 15 Nick Abendanon, 14 Noa Nakaitaci, 13 Aurélien Rougerie, 12 Wesley Fofana, 11 Zac Guildford, 10 Camille Lopez, 9 Morgan Parra, 8 Fritz Lee, 7 Alexandre Lapandry, 6 Damien Chouly (captain), 5 Sébastien Vahaamahina, 4 Jamie Cudmore, 3 Davit Zirakashvili, 2 Benjamin Kayser, 1 Thomas Domingo.

Replacements: 16 John Ulugia, 17 Raphael Chaume, 18 Clément Ric, 19 Julien Pierre, 20 Julien Bardy, 21 Ludovic Radoslavjevic , 22 Brock James, 23 Benson Stanley.

 

Munster: 15 Felix Jones, 14 Andrew Conway, 13 Andrew Smith, 12 JJ Hanrahan, 11 Simon Zebo, 10 Ian Keatley, 9 Conor Murray, 8 CJ Stander, 7 Tommy O'Donnell, 6 Peter O'Mahony (captain), 5 Paul O'Connell, 4 Dave Foley, 3 BJ Botha, 2 Duncan Casey, 1 John Ryan.

Replacements: 16 Kevin O'Byrne, 17 Eusebio Guinazu, 18 Stephen Archer, 19 Billy Holland, 20 Robin Copeland, 21 Duncan Williams, 22 Denis Hurley, 23 Johne Murphy.

 

Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)

Assistant referees: Neil Hennessy (Wales), Sean Brickell (Wales)

TMO: Derek Bevan (Wales)

 

 

 

Tries: Cooper-Woolley, Hughes, Varndell 2, Jacobs 2, Thompson

Cons: Goode, Lozowski 2

Pen: Goode

 

Tries: Rallier, Evans, Houerie

Con: Palis

 

 

Wasps: 15 Rob Miller, 14 Sailosi Tagicakibau, 13 Ben Jacobs, 12 Andrea Masi, 11 Tom Varndell, 10 Andy Goode, 9 Charlie Davies, 8 Nathan Hughes, 7 James Haskell (captain), 6 Ashley Johnson, 5 Kearnan Myall, 4 Bradley Davies, 3 Jake Cooper-Woolley, 2 Edd Shervington, 1 Matt Mullan.

Replacements: 16 Tom Lindsay, 17 Simon McIntyre, 18 Lorenzo Cittadini, 19 James Gaskell, 20 Guy Thompson, 21 Joe Simpson, 22 Alex Lozowski, 23 Chris Bell.

 

Castres: 15 Julien Dumora, 14 Geoffrey Palis, 13 Thomas Combezou, 12 Max Evans, 11 Remi Grosso, 10 Daniel Kirkpatrick, 9 Cedric Garcia, 8 Jannie Bornman, 7 Yannick Caballero (captain), 6 Ibrahim Diarra, 5 Benjamin Desroche, 4 Piula Faasalele, 3 Yohan Montès, 2 Marc-Antoine Rallier, 1 Saimone Taumoepeau.

Replacements: 16 Brice Mach, 17 Florian Houerie, 18 Paea Faanunu, 19 William Whetton, 20 Mathieu Babillot, 21 Sitiveni Sivivatu, 22 Victor Moreaux, 23 Antoine Dupont.

 

Referee: John Lacey (Ireland)

Assistant referees: Eddie Hogan-O'Connell (Ireland), Mark Patton (Ireland)

TMO: Alan Rogan (Ireland)

 

 

 

Try: Davies

Con: Priesland

Pens: Priesland 5

 

Try: Cave

Con: Humphreys

Pen: Pienaar 2

 

 

Scarlets: 15 Liam Williams, 14 Kristian Phillips, 13 Regan King, 12 Scott Williams (captain), 11 Michael Tagicakibau, 10 Rhys Priestland, 9 Rhodri Williams, 8 Rob McCusker 7 James Davies, 6 Aaron Shingler, 5 Johan Snyman, 4 Jake Ball, 3 Samson Lee, 2 Emyr Phillips, 1 Rob Evans. 

Replacements: 16 Kirby Myhill, 17 Wyn Jones, 18 Rhodri Jones, 19 George Earle, 20 Rory Pitman, 21 Aled Davies, 22 Steven Shingler, 23 Hadleigh Parkes.

 

Ulster: 15 Louis Ludik, 14 Tommy Bowe, 13 Darren Cave, 12 Luke Marshall, 11 Craig Gilroy, 10 Ian Humphreys, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Roger Wilson, 7 Clive Ross, 6 Robbie Diack, 5 Franco Van Der Merwe, 4 Dan Tuohy, 3 Declan Fitzpatrick, 2 Rory Best (captain), 1 Callum Black. 

Replacements: 16 Rob Herring, 17 Andy Warwick, 18 Bronson Ross, 19 Alan O'Connor, 20 Mike McComish, 21 Paul Marshall, 22 Michael Heaney, 23 Michael Allen.

 

Referee: JP Doyle (England)

Assistant referees: Tom Foley (England), Roy Maybank (England)

TMO: Graham Hughes (England)