MUNSTER BACKS COACH Simon Mannix was among the crowd at the Stade Aimé Giral as Perpignan were beaten 30-23 by Clermont this evening.
Rob Penney’s right hand man will have been impressed by some of what he saw from the hosts, who travel to Thomond Park on Sunday week for the Heineken Cup Pool 6 clash against Munster. However, Mannix will also have taken note of some of the defensive failings that allowed Clermont to score three tries.
Despite the negative result, Perpignan coach Marc Delpoux will have been pleased with his side’s performance for large parts of the game. Indeed, the Catalans dominated Clermont for much of the encounter and, surprisingly, edged the battle at the scrum.
Wing Sofiane Guitoune once again highlighted his power to score a second-half try for the home team, although he was also guilty of gifting Clermont centre Nao Nakaitaci a score with a loose pass. Perpignan’s other five-pointer was a penalty try after their scrum battered at Clermont’s line for a spell.
James Hook kicked 13 points from fullback, while also demonstrating his gliding attacking threat on several ocassions. Clermont’s other tries came from scrum-half Thierry Lacrampe and wing Julien Malzieu as they finished impressively. Brock James kicked 15 points as Perpignan were forced to settle for a losing bonus point to leave them seventh in the Top 14 overnight.
Delpoux will be keen to take stock of his players’ health after Luke Narraway, David Marty and Romain Taofifenua were all forced off in the opening 40 minutes. He will need his side at full complement if Perpignan are to have a real effort at claiming the scalp of Munster next weekend.
Mannix will report back to Penney that USAP are a strong outift and that their scrum has the potential to cause real problems in Limerick. Similarly, the running threat of the likes of Hook, Guitoune and Mjekevu will ask questions of Munster’s drift defence. The Catalans are certainly beatable, but Munster must be the French side’s their mixture of brawn and flair.
