Jonathan Davies says that Clermont will be more than ready for Saracens

Sky Sports' Jon Davies believes that Clermont will have the measure of Saracens in their Champions Cup semi-final...

Our performance against Northampton is exactly why I wanted to come and play for Clermont.

For me it was not a surprise that we played the way that we did – yes it is difficult to replicate that sort of performance every week but it is something that we should be striving for and there is still a lot more to come from this team.

Beating Saints in the manner that we did has given us a lot of confidence and we should be able to play that way when called upon, and I think this Saturday we will definitely be called upon to raise our game against Saracens.

There is a lot of talk about the history between Clermont and Saracens – but what they are talking about is the semi-final last year when Saracens beat us 46-6. I was pitch-side with Sky Sports that day and I am really glad that this year I will be on the park playing. We have played each other twice in the group stages already this year and it’s one apiece.

We have not mentioned last year’s semi at all – quite a few of the players have changed and we are a different team now. We will focus on our game and not be worrying about what has happened in the past.

Game plan

We have had a good debrief on Sarries – they are a completely different team to Northampton and we will have slightly different game plans and strategies on where we want to attack Saracens. We feel that their weaknesses are in different areas to what Saints were, but we can’t stray too far away from what has worked for us.

Our physicality and speed of ball has held us in good stead and we will look to carry that on. We want to play that high tempo game and make use of our strike players in the back line.

I was able to watch bits and bobs of the other quarter-finals and Toulon v Leinster should be a great game to watch. I think Wasps played very well against Toulon but it just goes to show what strength Toulon have to call upon. Matt Giteau coming back and Leigh Halfpenny looks fit and raring to go.

Toulon are a big game team and you don’t get much bigger than a European Cup semi-final. It looks like a really tough ask for Leinster but they have such a rich history in this competition and it should be pretty special to watch.

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There has been a lot of talk about Steffon Armitage and now Nick Abendanon being eligible for England. As far as Nick goes, well, he has had a tremendous season and really showed his quality.

Whereas I initially had some difficulties coming to a new club, Nick hit the ground running and has taken to it like a duck to water. As far as eligibility goes for the national side, I would think that you would want your best players available no matter where they played.

I think Nick could potentially add a heck of a lot to England – as a Welshman; I would not like to play against him!