Heineken Cup holders Leinster came from behind twice to beat Clermont Auvergne by the narrowest of margins and progress to the semi-finals of this year’s competition in Dublin. They will now play another French team in either Toulouse or Stade Français Paris.
A Julien Malzieu try helped the French side to a 10-0 lead but two Jamie Heaslip tries saw Leinster fight back to lead 20-10 at half-time.
Malzieu scored two more tries as Clermont moved five points ahead but then Jonathan Sexton kicked two penalties. Brock James had a late drop-goal to win it for Clermont, but pushed it wide. Giving us the final score of:
Leinster 29-28 Clermont Auvergne
Scorers
Leinster
Tries: Heaslip 2 Cons: Sexton 2 Pens: Sexton 5
Clermont Auvergne
Tries: Malzieu 3 Cons: James 2 Pens: James 3
Teams
Leinster: R Kearney, S Horgan, B O’Driscoll, G D’Arcy, I Nacewa, J Sexton, E Reddan, S Wright, J Fogarty, C Van Der Linde, L Cullen [capt], N Hines, K McLaughlin, S Jennings, J Heaslip.
Replacements: B Jackman for Fogarty (74) , M Ross, C Healy for van der Linde (41), M O’Kelly, S Keogh, P O’Donohoe, S Berne, G Dempsey
ASM Clermont Auvergne: A Floch, A Rougerie [capt], M Joubert, G Canale, J Malzieu, B James, M Parra, T Domingo, M Ledesma, D Zirakashvili, J Cudmore, T Privat, J Bonnaire, A Lapandry, E Vermeulen.
Replacements: B Cabello for Ladesma (74) , V Debaty for Domingo (71), C Ric, J Pierre for Privat (53), A Audebert for Lapandry (53), K Senio, G Williams, W Fofana
Referee: David Pearson (England)
Attendance: 18,500