This time, it's hard to blame the duplicates and the absence of the internationals. Except Damian Penaud (calf) and Alexandre Fischer (thigh), affected with the XV of France, Clermont does not have to deplore a bloodletting which would have deprived it of its best elements. And yet, the ASM bowed, on Saturday evening, to the Michelin against Bordeaux-Bègles (22-31), which confirmed - in the most beautiful way - its new status as leader of the Top 14. "C ' is a bad operation, recognized the Auvergne manager Franck Azéma, without veiling his face. Today, we are not at the level of this Bordeaux team. There is better compared to the match of Pau but also a lot of largesse. On our highlights we don't score and they score too easily. ”
»READ ALSO - Bordeaux-Bègles strikes a blow in Clermont
However, the Jaunards had, unlike his last outings, managed their start to the match. However, Morgan Parra had managed to keep his team afloat, achieving a 100% kick. Problem, “we take tests very easily and it's complicated against a great team from Bordeaux. We give 21 points, so it's hard to win, ”says hooker Mike Tadjer. Same cold observation for Morgan Parra with La Montagne : “At the transition level, we're not there. We lose a balloon, we put fifteen pellets to set up. The Bordelais do not steal their victory, but we helped them well. We gave them 21 points. ”
ASM is routine
The last outings of Clermontois had already highlighted several shortcomings, a certain form of "routine", in particular a lack of sharpness and offensive efficiency. Which until then had been their strength. Before receiving the UBB, Wesley Fofana had thus warned. "We have no choice, we know," he warned. We have to show a whole different face. ” That was not the case. Worse, the players of Christophe Urios squarely won the offensive bonus in Auvergne. And the ASM concede its second defeat of the season after that against the Paloise Section, carried by a great Colin Slade mid-September (28-37). Saturday's setback looked like a transfer of power between an ASM on a downward slope and a UBB on the rise.
"There is excitement and a lack of confidence"
Franck AzémaAt the end of this 16th day of the Top 14, the Auvergnats came out of the top 6 - seventh at 4 points from Toulouse, sixth - and will have to fight to win their ticket for the final stages of the championship. With, in addition, a quarter-final of the Champions Cup at Michelin to manage, in early April, against Racing 92. But before that, there will be a perilous trip next Saturday (18h) on the lawn of SU Agen, which is fighting for maintenance but which struck a big blow by going to win this weekend in Brive (16-30). “I am quite lucid about our situation. We are in our place, coward Franck Azéma. There is excitement and a lack of confidence. There is disappointment and anger but you have to try to improve what you can before going to Agen. There is concern because we still have big teams to play at home and away. ”
No effect Joe Schmidt
Last week, Joe Schmidt - former assistant of Vern Cotter during the conquest of the first Brennus in 2010 who then became a successful coach of Leinster then of XV of Clover - had come to Auvergne at the bedside of his old team. To restart the machine, relight the flame. "It helps us a lot on small details that are very simple to adjust but that we weren't doing, even in training," said Wesley Fofana in La Montagne . Again, it did not have the desired effect. ASM is in the grip of doubt. “Accounting is complicated but we will have to get up because the championship is not over. But we have a headache, ”admits Mike Tadjer. And when the head is touched ...
Read also
- Calendar and results Top 14
- Top 14 ranking
