Few would have bet on such a scenario. With a reshuffled team, Clermont achieved a very big blow this Saturday afternoon with a seven-point victory (28-35) at Aimé-Giral. The Catalan fortress, impregnable for nine encounters, has fallen. And with it undoubtedly Perpignan’s hopes of qualifying for the final phase. Trailing by fifteen points with twenty-five minutes remaining, the Auvergnats initially turned their backs. Then they knew how to perfectly seize their chance by taking advantage of the opposing team’s indiscipline.
Quickly after the yellow card received by Alan Brazo (56th), Christophe Urios’ men found the fault through the center Léon Darricarrère (58th) then the pillar Giorgi Beria (72nd), future USAP player (21-18, 64th). Twelve minutes from time, however, we thought that the Perpignans, thanks to the unstoppable Tavite Veredamu (author of his twelfth try of the season), were still going to get through it. This was without counting on another yellow card, this time, inflicted on Ignazio Ruiz which once again allowed the Clermontois to come back to three points (28-25).
Perpignan finished at 13
But the best was yet to come for the ASM. Five minutes from the end, Baptiste Jauneau, very good during these 80 minutes, recovered a candle from his opener Benjamín Urdapilleta to go flattening between the poles. Perpignan, who even finished the match at 13 after the expulsion of Apisai Naqalevu in the final seconds, never came back.
For Clermont, who dream of finishing among the top eight and thus qualifying for the next Champions Cup, this third away victory of the season is obviously a very good operation. For the USAP, which had five victories in a row, the return to earth was brutal.
