Clermont 38-19 Ulster: Home side blow Irishmen away with first-half blitz
Last Updated: 19/12/16 12:21pm
A second-half fightback from Ulster was repelled by Clermont as the Top 14 side recorded a 38-19 win in Pool 5 of the Champions Cup.
Tries from Isaia Toeava and Camille Lopez as well as two from Nick Abendanon gave Clermont a 28-0 lead with the third quarter drawing to a close.
In the 57th minute Ulster were given a lifeline when Tommy Bowe crossed after taking a long pass from Ruan Pienaar. Paddy Jackson converted and matched the effort when Franco van der Merwe wrestled his way over on the back of a driving maul five minutes later.
When Bowe added his second try in the 68th minute it looked as though the Irishmen were in the mood to spoil the Clermont party, but Jackson sent the conversion wide, and after Lopez slotted a penalty the home side were 12 points ahead.
The result was sealed when Jackson attempted an intercept close to his own tryline but couldn't quite catch the ball, resulting in a yellow card for a deliberate knock-on and a penalty try.
The win puts Clermont on 17 points in Pool 5, eight points clear of Bordeaux-Begles and Ulster who are level on points.
Clermont scored in the second minute at the Kingspan Stadium last weekend, but they were off the mark even quicker in front of their home fans with a try in the opening 60 seconds.
All Black Toeava glided onto a pass from Wesley Fofana and cut through in midfield before side-stepping past the final defender to score.
Morgan Parra converted for an early 7-0 lead, before it got even worse for the Ulstermen after 18 minutes.
Charles Piutau collected a high Lopez kick, but when he attempted to offload, Remi Lamerat was there to steal possession and put his side on the front foot. Clermont went through the phases before spinning the ball left to Abendanon, who raced over at the corner.
It was not long before the hosts continued their ferocious start with a third unanswered score.
This time the French pack turned on the power to shunt Ulster back before releasing Lopez. The outside-half found Abendanon in space with a perfectly weighted kick, and all the full-back had to do was touch down. Parra converted again to make it 21-0 before the half-hour mark.
Ulster had an opportunity with a five-metre scrum on the stroke of half-time, but Clermont won a crucial penalty to maintain their lead at half-time.
It was a case of deja vu for the Irish province at the start of the second half as Lopez went from provider to scorer.
The playmaker intercepted a pass from Pienaar and sprinted 70 metres to wrap up the bonus point, before Parra converted again to send Clermont into a 28-0 lead.
Ulster kicked off their comeback when Pienaar looped a pass over the defence and into the arms of Bowe, and the Ireland wing ran over unopposed.
The second-half revival continued after 61 minutes when Van der Merwe was shunted over the line from a close-range lineout.
Jackson converted to narrow the gap to 14 points, before Bowe crashed over from close range after Stuart McCloskey's break.
Lopez landed a penalty, before a penalty try wrapped up the result after Paddy Jackson was shown yellow for stopping a try-scoring pass from finding its target.
