Match Reports

Report | Clermont 23 Ulster 29

12th December 2021
Ulster claimed a historic victory over ASM Clermont Auvergne on Saturday, clinching their first-ever win at the Stade Marcel-Michelin to get their Heineken Champions Cup campaign off to a fantastic start.

In a game that also saw Duane Vermeulen make his debut for the province, and Sean Reidy make his 150th Ulster appearance, Ulster go into Round 2 of the Heineken Champions Cup with four points in the bag.

The visitors put on the pressure from the get-go, and John Cooney duly obliged with the penalty to get the first points on the board in the first minute of the game.

Clermont’s discipline let them down again in the opening minutes, allowing John Cooney to step up again for the three points, with which he made no mistake.

Ulster, in their European red jerseys, looked set to score after a superb move between James Hume, Mike Lowry, John Cooney and Marcus Rea to bring them to the Clermont line, but the hosts did well to hold them up. It wasn’t long though before Ulster got another penalty and Cooney notched up a further three points.

Ulster really impressed in attack, finding holes in the Clermont defence. Eventually, Ulster registered their first try through Stuart McCloskey, who powered his way over. John Cooney nailed the conversion to put 16 points between the two sides.

Just over five minutes from half-time, Clermont finally got on the scoreboard after Tani Vili made the cross-field kick to Damian Penaud in the corner. After a TMO check, the try was awarded to the winger. JJ Hanrahan added the conversion.

Clermont found themselves temporarily down to 14 when Wayne Barnes sent Jacobus Van Tonder to the bin for a tip-tackle on Rob Baloucoune, who unfortunately had to go off as a result. John Cooney landed the ensuing penalty to stretch Ulster’s lead. That was shortly cut however, as JJ Hanrahan clocked up three points when Ulster were pinged for holding on at the stroke of half-time.

The French side grew into the game in the third quarter of the game and had a penalty opportunity on 50 minutes but JJ Hanrahan’s effort went wide. Six minutes later, Clermont struck, with Hanrahan making the break and Damian Penaud went over for his second. The Irish out-half landed the conversion to bring them within two.

Ulster regained the lead after 68 minutes, when Mike Lowry went for the offload to Nick Timoney, but Cheik Tiberghien made a deliberate knock-on before Nick Timoney collected the ball to crash over. After consulting with the TMO, Wayne Barnes awarded the try and gave a yellow card to Tiberghien.

The game was all but put to bed five minutes later, with John Cooney landing a monstrous kick from inside Ulster’s own half to make it seven kicks from seven from the tee for the scrum-half. It meant that Hanrahan’s last-minute penalty gave them only a consolation losing bonus-point at home, and Ulster left having secured their first win at the Stade Marcel-Michelin.

Full-time score: Clermont 23 Ulster 29

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Star of the Match

Scorers

Clermont

Tries: Damian Penaud (2)

Cons: JJ Hanrahan (2)

Pens: JJ Hanrahan (3)

Ulster

Tries: Stuart McCloskey, Nick Timoney

Cons: John Cooney (2)

Pens: John Cooney (5)

Line-ups

Clermont

(15-9) Cheik Tiberghien, Damian Penaud, Jean-Pascal Barraque, Tani Vili, Alivereti Raka, JJ Hanrahan, Kevin Viallard;

(1-8) Peni Ravai, Yohan Beheregaray, Rabah Slimani, Jacobus Van Tonder, Sébastien Vahaamahina, Arthur Iturria (Capt.), Peceli Yato, Fritz Lee.

Replacements: Benjamin Boudou, Etienne Falgoux, Cristian Ojovan, Thibaud Lanen, Lucas Dessaigne, Sébastien Bézy, Gabin Michet, Marvin O'Connor.

Ulster

(15-9) Mike Lowry, Robert Baloucoune, James Hume, Stuart McCloskey, Ethan McIlroy, Billy Burns, John Cooney;

(1-8) Andrew Warwick, Rob Herring, Tom O’Toole, Alan O’Connor (Capt.), Kieran Treadwell, Marcus Rea, Nick Timoney, Duane Vermeulen;

Replacements: John Andrew, Jack McGrath, Ross Kane, Sam Carter, Greg Jones, Sean Reidy, Nathan Doak, Stewart Moore.

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Ulster will be looking to make it two wins from two in the Heineken Champions Cup when they host Northampton Saints next Friday evening (8pm kick-off). A limited number of tickets remain available.

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