Aurelien Rougerie reckons Clermont Auvergne's Pool Five rivals will be taking notice after their victory against Llanelli Scarlets.
Clermont skipper says to Pool Five rivals: "We're here"
Clermont Auvergne captain Aurelien Rougerie reckons that Pool Five rivals Wasps and Munster will be sitting up and taking notice after his side's 48-21 victory against Llanelli Scarlets.
The home side ran in no less than seven tries in a pulsating contest at Parc des Sports Marcel-Michelin, with Rougerie leading the try count for Clermont with a hat-trick of scores.
And, with defending champions Wasps edging their opening Pool Five match 24-23 against 2006 champions Munster on Saturday, the skipper reckons his side has as good a chance as anyone of progressing.
"I have to take my hat off to the whole team," he said. "We had a great time out there and it's a fantastic start to our European campaign.
"We definitely weren't perfect, and we've got lots to look at and work on for next week. It certainly wasn't an easy game, and it could easily have turned in Llanelli's favour.
"But I think we've come out tonight and we've said: 'We're here and we're right in this pool."'
Rougerie's sentiments were echoed by John Smit, South Africa's World Cup-winning captain making his debut for the French side as a second-half substitute.
He said: "I was taken by surprise by the speed of the game. We had good offloads, good skills ... these guys are hungry to win this thing and we've made a great start.
"This is one of the most professional outfits I've ever been involved with. This is an exciting new chapter for me."
Jones disappointed
Meanwhile, after seeing his side contribute fully to a game full of running rugby - the Scarlets scoring three tries of their own - Llanelli coach Phil Davies was nevertheless disappointed not to come out of the contest with a bonus point.
With Llanelli lining up against Wasps next weekend, Davies said: "We let them get away in the beginning of the second half. We gave ourselves some real momentum towards the end, but it was too late to change the result.
"We're obviously disappointed not to have a bonus point, particularly in a pool this tough.
"We always feel we can win a game, but we made a lot of mistakes that we don't usually make.
"We'll need to look at our set-piece for next weekend - we lost four or five lineout balls.
"It was a very physical, so I'll give the guys a couple of days off. We've been so focused on this match, we'll start thinking about Wasps then."
