LEINSTER V ASM CLERMONT AUVERGNE:"HOW CAN you govern a country which has 246 varieties of cheese?" bemoaned the former French president Charles De Gaulle. In something of a renowned gastronomic area even by French standards, the Auvergne is also noted for having what are widely considered the best cheeses in France.
Along with Sicily, the Auvergne is also the only volcanic area of Europe, while the capital of the region, Clermont-Ferrand, is of course famous for its Michelin plant. And then there is the rugby team, Association Sportive Montferrandaise Clermont Auvergne.
The northernmost club in the Top 14 save for the two Parisian outfits, and somewhat isolated from the rest with Brive it’s nearest neighbour an hour and a half away, nothing encapsulates the region’s identity more than its rugby team.
Former wasps and England out-half Alex King, now one of the coaching staff, remarked recently: “It’s amazing here how much the people love their rugby club. The first thing I saw when I drove around Clermont is that every car has the ASM car sticker. It is very, very important for the people.”
So it was that despite a population of around 350,000 in Clermont-Ferrand and its suburban surrounds, and an estimated 1.5 million in Auvergne, 40,000 travelled to Paris for each of the last three losing French finals in the Stade de France, with a further 50,000 congregated around the Place de Jaude in Clermont-Ferrand.
Furthermore, around 2,700 supporters will make the trip to the RDS for this Friday evening’s Heineken Cup quarter-final. A half-dozen planes have been chartered for the tie, while some will take a six-day return journey by road and boat. Indeed, there was widespread disappointment that the game wasn’t in Croke Park. Had it been – especially on a Saturday – Clermont reckoned they’d have brought up to 10,000 fans.
As one can detect from the name of their home ground, Stade Marcel Michelin, the links between the tyre plant and the multi-sports club in which rugby is very much the centrepiece, go back to its foundation in 1911. Les Jaunards even wear the Michelin colours of yellow and blue.
In truth, that changed along with the name when Rene Fontes became club president in 2004. Where before the financial dependency on Michelin was almost 100 per cent, now it is estimated at 15 to 17 per cent. This was achieved by bringing in seven sponsors and by redeveloping the stadium. “We have a stadium, it’s stupid: we use it 17 days a year. We have to use it every day,” declared Fontes. And, with the help of a conference centre, shops and on-site partners, they do now.
Although they have twice won the European Challenge Cup, Clermont haven’t contested a quarter-final since 2002. “We haven’t played a Heineken Cup quarter-final for so long. As it’s the first time we clash with a foreign team at this level, it gives a new dimension to our performance,” said their captain Aurélien Rougerie earlier this week.
Munster coach Tony McGahan always maintained that Clermont were, in truth, a Heineken Cup semi-final team, and they might well have proved his point but for drawing Munster in each of the last two years at the pool stage. As it was, they won a group featuring Leicester and the Ospreys this season.
“We aimed at being in the quarter-finals. No doubt that we hadn’t been very lucky with the drawing of lots for some time, but it gave us even more motivation,” said their Kiwi head coach Vern Cotter, who added: “As they are the favourites, we aren’t under pressure. The Irish team have just had a big performance defeating Munster (16-15) at Thomond Park. It’s up to us to take up the challenge. This meeting will make us progress and relaunch the end of the season.”
Famously, of course, they have become a quasi tragic story of French rugby, for whom the coveted Bouclier du Brennus is even more of a Holy Grail for them than the Heineken Cup even was for Munster. Ten times Clermont have reached the final, only to lose them all, seven by a score. Last year’s defeat to Perpignan apparently left the population almost visibly downcast for weeks.
In any event, rebounding from their latest defeat in the Stade de France last Saturday to Stade Francais seems not to have been a problem. “It’ll scare the living daylights out of us to be hammered by the Irish, so our state of mind will be quite different. That’s crucial to go back to the dynamics of December and January,” their Argentinian hooker Mario Ledesma ventured earlier this week. Their form has been patchy of late, with those away defeats to Bayonne and Stade either side of an unconvincing home win over a second string Montpellier varnished by five tries in the last five minutes.
They had an unusually high number of call-ups in the Six Nations, as Michael Cheika also noted, including two of the new heroes of French rugby in the considerable shape of their pocket battleship loose-head Thomas Domingo and 21-year-old scrum-half Morgan Parra, still only in his first season after joining from Bourgoin.
But, back to virtually full-strength save for the long-term absentees, Scottish back-row Jason White and South African centre Marius Joubert, Clermont will be at full-strength in the RDS, featuring 14 full internationals and the prolific Brock James, who somehow escaped the Australian net.
“We are improving and I can feel a real involvement of the whole group to take up the forthcoming challenges. We aren’t satisfied with these last matches. We must improve and find all the means we need to have a great performance,” said Cotter.
ASM Clermont Auvergne
Full name:Association Sportive Montferrandaise, Clermont Auvergne
Nickname(s):Les Jaunards, 'Montferrand'.
Founded:1911.
Location:Clermont-Ferrand, France.
Ground:Parc des Sports Marcel Michelin.
Capacity:16,334.
President:René Fontès.
Coach(es):Vern Cotter. Assistant: Joe Schmidt.
Captain:Aurélien Rougerie.
Achievements
Challenge Yves du Manoir winners:1938, 1976, 1986.
Coupe de France winners:2001.
European Challenge Cup winners:1999, 2007.
French championship finalists:10 times.
