LEICESTER cruised through to the quarter-finals of the Heineken Cup last night with a well-deserved victory. It is the seventh time the English club have reached this stage of the competition and thanks to a bonus point for scoring more than four tries, they not only won pool three but also gave themselves a good chance of a home tie in the knockout stages.
Their try-scoring hero was Tom Varndell, the England wing, who scored four and should have had a fifth, but the game was won up front thanks to outstanding performances from the tight forwards.
Varndell’s hat-trick try and Leicester’s crucial fourth came soon after the interval thanks to some slick handling from first Andy Goode and then, inevitably, Geordan Murphy, which gave the wing a straightforward run into the corner. Goode missed the conversion but soon afterwards stroked over a penalty to give the visiting team a 17-point cushion.
The English side should have wrapped up the game after 54 minutes when a wonderful move left Harry Ellis sprinting for the posts. The scrum half tried to make the line but was caught and dropped the ball with Varndell free outside him.
Clermont’s determination earned them a try after a quick penalty by Alexandre Audebert, but a cool dropped goal by Goode and then Varndell’s fourth try settled any lingering Leicester nerves. Not even an interception try by Breyton Paulse, the South Africa wing, threatened to dent their celebrations.
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The home side had started the match the stronger and were soon 6-0 ahead after immaculate penalties from Stephen Jones, the fly half. The visiting team then suffered another blow when Ollie Smith, their centre, had to hobble off.
By then, however, Goode had pulled back a penalty before Murphy helped to put Leicester ahead. The Ireland wing fielded a loose kick from Jones and drifted past two defenders before passing to his fellow wing, Varndell. The 20-year-old showed his strength as well as his speed to score in the corner.
After half an hour the wing scored his second, although this time the score was created by Ellis. With no support, the England No 9 went blind and pushed back his opposite number, Pierre Mignoni, ten metres before freeing a pass to the unmarked Varndell.
Hipkiss added a third before the interval, but the French side refused to cave in and Anthony Floch, the full back, went over on the left for a try that Jones converted. Pat Howard, the Leicester head coach, said: “Clermont have only lost here twice in a year and to beat them was great. Tom is a natural finisher, one of the best in England and that performance said ‘pick me’.”
SCORERS: Clermont Auvergne: Tries: Floch (40min), Audebert (66), Paulse (74). Conversions: Jones 3. Penalty goals: Jones 2 (4, 10). Leicester: Tries: Varndell 4 (24, 31, 44, 69), Hipkiss (38). Conversions: Goode 2, Broadfoot.
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Penalty goals: Goode 2 (18, 52). Dropped goal: Goode (67).
SCORING SEQUENCE (Clermont first): 3-0, 6-0, 6-3, 6-8, 6-15, 6-22, 13-22 (half-time), 13-27, 13-30, 20-30, 20-33, 20-40, 27-40.
CLERMONT AUVERGNE: A Floch; B Paulse, G Canale (rep: R Chanal, 63), T Marsh, J Malzieu; S Jones, P Mignoni; L Emmanuelli (rep: D Shvelidze, 52), M Ledesma (rep: B Miguel, 59; sin-bin: 60-70), M Scelzo (rep: D Zirakashvili, 48), J Cudmore (rep: D Barrier, 40), T Privat (rep: A Audebert, 59), S Broomhall, M Dieude, E Vermeulen.
LEICESTER: S Vesty; T Varndell, O Smith (rep: Alesana Tuilagi, 18), D Hipkiss, G Murphy; A Goode (rep: R Broadfoot, 68), H Ellis (rep: A Healey, 65); G Rowntree (rep: D Morris, 64), G Chuter (rep: J Buckland, 72), J White, L Deacon, B Kay (rep: L Cullen, 49), B Deacon, L Abraham, M Corry (rep: W Johnson, 55).
Referee: A Rolland (Ireland).
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Attendance: 10,000.