TOPS
Racing, Clermont's bête noire
Two years ago, Racing won on Clermont in the quarter-finals of the Champions Cup.
One of the last matches, at the time, of Dan Carter which had triggered the anger of the Auvergne supporters because of a pass more than the limit of the forward.
Two years later,
bis repetita
.
Laurent Travers' players - but no longer Laurent Labit - have once again bent the ASM in his lair.
A success that does not suffer from any dispute as the domination of Ile-de-France has been total.
The reaction at the end of the match, and in particular the first try scored by the Japanese international Matsushima, reduced the bill ...
Iribaren, much more than an understudy
Laurent Travers, the manager of Racing, is used to saying that there is no hierarchy in his team, that the matches are played at 23, or even more.
Saturday, for the shock against ASM, the technician from Altoséquanais had chosen to establish Teddy Iribaren rather than Maxime Machenaud.
A choice that paid off since the one that could be considered as number 2 in the hierarchy of numbers 9 shone on the lawn of Michelin.
Regularly energizing the game of Sky and White.
If there are some inaccuracies in his kicking game, the former Montpellier and Brive player excelled in his role as a goalscorer, scoring 23 points and missing only a transformation.
Impeccable efficiency.
He could give up his place in the 58th minute with the feeling of a job well done: 30-8, mass was already said.
Bonus for continuity
In this troubled period due to Covid-19, Racing has chosen to play for continuity.
Its workforce has hardly changed, only three to four arrivals.
On the Clermont side, the upheaval was total.
The questioning, important.
This explains the difference in control, this Saturday, between the two teams.
Like its last outings, Racing has been efficient, powerful, sure of its strength and its automatisms.
Opposite, Clermont was archidominated.
The lack of collective benchmarks was obvious.
The fact that this playoff match arrives at the start of the season did not help the Auvergnats, who will need time to find cohesion.
Another shock at the top Racing-Saracens
Two away wins to launch the quarter-finals of the Champions Cup.
Racing therefore won in Clermont, but previously, the Saracens had hit hard by going to win at the Aviva Stadium.
The two teams will meet again next weekend at the Arena de Nanterre.
Find themselves because they were already in the same during this edition.
A victory everywhere.
Make way for the beautiful… Racing never eliminated the Saracens in a European Cup qualifying match: the English had won in Colombes during the 2015 quarter-finals (11-12) and they had won in Lyon , in the final of the 2016 edition (9-21).
Never two without three ?
FLOPS
ASM: doubts are confirmed
The first two outings of Clermont in Top 14 had highlighted several weaknesses.
There had already been this short success against Clermont, followed by a setback conceded on the lawn of Aviron Bayonnais.
On Saturday, the ASM was taken in by the throat by Racing which imposed its physical density and its formidable efficiency.
Despite a jump in the first period, the formation of Franck Azéma was generally dominated throughout the game by the Ile-de-France residents.
Unable to turn the tide.
A conquest and a failing Auvergne discipline
The Jaunards were shaken up in close scrum, penalized on numerous occasions.
Difficult in its conditions to disrupt a dominating Ile-de-France pack.
To this, it is added a crippling indiscipline of the players of Franck Azéma which allowed the Racingmen to widen the gap by the boot of Tedy Iribaren.
So many problems that spoiled the score of Clermont, too rough to hope for better.
Lorenzetti: the family, rather than the Racing Family
The president of Racing, Jacky Lorenzetti, was unable to witness the success of his family in Auvergne.
But he had a good excuse: he was attending his daughter's wedding in Corsica.
A choice, long planned, obviously logical.
But, in the columns of Midi Olympique, he explained how he intended to follow the progress of the match.
“I'm not going to watch it.
My daughter forbade me to do it and anyway, mass starts at 5:30 p.m.
I also suspect my wife of having stung the "box" in order to be sure that I do not escape.
Quietly, I nevertheless bribed a young guest.
He will be dressed as a Racingman and will be slate, like in the good old days.
Thanks to him, I will at least be kept informed of the evolution of the score. "
Hopefully he has not, in front of the demonstration of his players, shouted loudly in the middle of the church ...
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Racing sweeps Clermont and reaches the semi-final of the Champions Cup