Munster and Clermont meet in back-to-back games over the next two weekends in the European Champions Cup, in a round of matches that could make or break either side’s chances of qualifying from the deathly Pool 1.
The sides have met five times in Europe’s elite competition, and while the result has always gone the way of the home side (Clermont lead 3-2), Munster have fared better than their French opponents in pool meetings, picking up losing bonus points in both of their trips to Stade Marcel Michelin.
A good omen for Munster fans is that their province has reached the quarter finals on both seasons the two combatants met in the pool phase, knocking out Clermont each time in the process. However, we’ll start with the most recent of the meetings between the sides, when they faced off in Montpellier in the semi-final of the 2013 competition.
1. Clermont 16-10 Munster (2013)
The moral victory is a quintessentially Irish thing, and this semi-final loss in the south of France ranks up there with Munster’s many “heroic defeats”.
With Clermont’s big-money superstars looking comfortable at 16-3, Munster’s Denis Hurley crossed for a try with 20 minutes to play to give them a glimmer of hope, but it wasn’t to be, Munster’s final attack ending after a questionable forward pass call from referee Nigel Owens.
Ronan O’Gara put in a starring performance on his final outing in a Munster shirt, and while he hadn’t confirmed his retirement at the time, there was something about his demeanor after the game that suggested he’d put in a worthy final shift to a glittering Munster rugby career.
2. Clermont 25-19 Munster (2008/09)
Just like this year, Munster and Clermont met in the back-to-back round in the pool stages of the 2008/09 Heineken Cup.
The first of their meetings that season came at Stade Marcel Michelin, and it took a late fightback from Munster to ensure they picked up a vital losing point, which went a long way towards getting them a home quarter final.
The French side led by 25 points to 13 with 10 minutes to play, but two Ronan O’Gara penalties, the second of which came in the dying seconds, clawed Munster back within six, and gave them a boost ahead of the return tie the following weekend.
3. Munster 23-13 Clermont (2008/09)
And that return leg was by far the most dramatic tussle between the sides.
Munster trailed by 13 points to 11 with five minutes to play, on the brink of just their second ever European defeat at Thomond Park, but two late tries from Marcus Horan and Niall Ronan ensured they put themselves in pole position to qualify from Pool 1, and prevented the French side picking up a losing bonus point of their own.
Ronan O’Gara’s late conversion of Niall Ronan’s try also made him the first player to pass the 1,000 points mark in the competition, as Munster went on to pick up maximum points in their final pool games against Sale and Montauban.
However, the iconic highlight of the game was the first half punch-up between Paul O’Connell and Jamie Cudmore. O’Connell took several digs to the face before eventually launching at the Canadian hard-man, who was red-carded.
4. Munster 36-13 Clermont (2007/08)
The scoreline shows a Munster hammering, but it was only in the final five minutes that Alan Quinlan crossed to secure Munster’s winning bonus point.
Marcus Horan touched down in the final minute, for what would turn out to be the first of a pretty impressive three tries in four appearances against Clermont, to seal an impressive 23-point victory against the French hotshots.
It proved to be Munster’s most emphatic victory en-route to winning the Heineken Cup title that year, and it all took place in a Thomond Park arena that was still just a building site, with the stadium’s expansion still in progress.
5. Clermont 26-19 Munster (2007/08)
When Munster eventually lifted the Heineken Cup at the end of this season, their fightback to earn a bonus point in Stade Marcel Michelin was the turning point of the campaign.
Trailing 23-6 with almost an hour played, Munster dug deep and clawed their way back to 23-19 with five minutes to play through a Lifeimi Mafi try, a conversion and two penalties from Ronan O’Gara.
Brock James sealed Clermont’s win in the final minute with a penalty, but by picking up a bonus point in the defeat, Munster knew that any win against Wasps in Thomond Park the following week would be enough to send them into the last eight.
After beating Wasps to finish level on 19 points at the top of the pool with Clermont, Munster could look back at either of their late bonus points against the French that season as the points that got them to the quarter finals.
