L’ASM Clermont et Bordeaux dos à dos (23-23) après un choc de costauds au Michelin
In a match, where all the players were present, except perhaps the referee… Clermontois and Bordelais proved that they had the weapons to scrap at the top of the table. At the exit, here is a draw which can only benefit the team that was moving, not what to speak of a stoppage for the one that received.
For Clermont, the tons of frustrations, because there will necessarily be some, could be difficult to evacuate, especially to prepare for a trip to Castres, where next Saturday another type of fight will await the men of Jono Gibbes, facing a formation of a different kind of beauty…
ASM Clermont – Bordeaux-Bègles: give your notes
Until then, the video images will probably annoy staff and players, even if they will also show something other than questionable decisions by Mr. Ramos. They will point out periods of weakness in this high-level match, a few holes in the racket at certain key moments in the game offered by the ASM.
Between whistles and stabs, Clermont may have stopped the worst…
As the break in a meeting for the less thrilling loomed, we could put in opposition the realism of a team, Clermont, against another, Bordeaux, struck by an inability to concretize its highlights and its actions in the scoring areas at the start of the match.
But, by dint of stubbornness, of play led by a Jalibert in high-class mode, while the siren had retained, the UBB was rewarded on a small personal exploit of its winger Tambwe. With a small kick over Raka, the Congolese from Bordeaux dampened the enthusiasm of the Michelin.
Until then, the Clermont public had gotten its money’s worth. His team displayed a foolproof defensive grinta, like the astonishing Delguy who really did not disappoint for his first Michelin. An ASM that took advantage of the smallest spaces to create breaches, above all, to score points.
If the first try (Delguy) owes a lot to the very good reading of Bézy, the second owes as much to the daring raise at the foot of Penaud as to the run across from Raka who, with one hand offered his international friend the opportunity to dive at the foot of the Phliponeau tribune.
We already knew that the score (17-3) which was announced at half-time of this high intensity match had a trompe-l’oeil side, that the mass was far from being said. Tambwe’s tightrope walker number sounded like a fine warning (17-10).
And Jalibert’s two goals, which sanctioned the first lack of control of the Clermontois on recovery, confirmed the trend that this shock was not about to deliver its truths.
Just before the hour mark, it was the ASM who could bite their fingers for not having materialized their huge game sequences. Inevitably in the red, after actions a thousand times, the slightest failure can be expensive. The too short diagonal at the foot of Tiberghien, intercepted by Jalibert, then looked like a stab (20-23).
The sequel and the end? A goal from Belleau to tie the score, even more contentious actions, misunderstood refereeing decisions and at the end an impression that the Clermontois also lacked precision to force their destiny. For Jono Gibbes, it was two points gained… two points that we will have to keep going to recover outside.
Datasheet
CLERMONT-FERRAND (Michelin Stadium). Half-time score: 17-10 for Clermont. Arbitration by Mr. Ramos. Nice weather. 18,338 spectators.
Peaks. Clermont: 2 tries from Delguy (17th), Penaud (22nd), 2 transformations and 3 sanctioned (35th, 53rd, 70th) from Belleau. Bordeaux: 2 tries from Tambwe (40th, 62nd), 2 transformations and 3 penalties (32nd, 44th, 47th) from Jalibert.
Temporary changes. Clermont: Jedrasiak by Lavanini (5th-14th), Vahaamahina by Lavanini (15th-26th).
Score evolution. 7-0 (Clermont), 14-0, 14-3, 17-3, 17-10; 17-13, 17-16, 20-16, 20-23, 23-23.
ASM Clermont. Tiberghien (Plisson, 73rd); Delguy (Moala, 58th), Penaud, Simone, Raka; (o) Belleau, (m) Bézy; Dessaigne, Van Tonder (Tixeront, mt), Iturria (cap); Vahaamahina, Jedrasiak (Lavanini, 58th); Ojovan (Kubriashvili, 32nd), Beheregaray (Pélissié, 59th), Falgoux (Béria, 53rd).
Union Bordeaux-Bègles. Buros (Holmes, 47th); Cordero, Moefana, Vili (Uberti, 58th), Tambwe; (o) Jalibert, (m) Lucu; Diaby (cap.), Vergnes-Taillefer, Marais (Lamerat, 63rd); Cazeaux, Jolmes (Douglas, 49th); Falatea (Vaotoa, 49th), Lamothe (Dimcheff, 63rd), Tameifuna (Poirot, 49th).
Christophe Buron