Invincible Clermont battle past Leinster

Clermont claimed a very hard-fought 15-12 win over Leinster at the Stade Marcel Michelin in the third round of the Heineken Cup today.
This win brings their home record to 51 consecutive wins in all competition to put them in total control for a quarter-final qualification being five points clear of the Heineken Cup champions at the top of Pool 5.
With a short six-day turnaround before the return fixture in Dublin next Saturday, there is no doubt that most of the coming days will be about nursing some sore bodies as the battle between arguably the two best sides in World Rugby turned into a trench war.
No-one expected a try fest to come out of this game as both defences were so well-organised which made it near impossible for either side to create some real scoring chances.
Clermont had the upper hand, just, in attack making a few half-breaks but handling errors, provoked by the pressure of the defence, prevented them from crossing the try-line.
With the defence taking over, it was a fierce battle of the back row with the duel between Julien Bonnaire and the returning Sean O'Brien being the highlight of the game.
The former France star and the Irish powerhouse tackled anything and everything running at them all game long to stop the other team producing good attacking ball.
Clermont came on top though with the narrow win making next week a must-win game for Leinster, who were on a 17-game unbeaten run.
It seems unlikely they will win the group now but a loss would almost certainly annihilate their chances to qualify as best second.
It was all about Clermont in the first 20 minutes of the game and Morgan Parra rewarded that domination by kicking two penalties to put the French 6-3 in front.
Slowly but surely, the Irish caught up with the speed of the game and stared to put their slick passing game in place and even if Parra added a third penalty, Sexton kicked two to see the score leveled at 9-9 just after the half hour mark.
But Clermont got on the front foot again with a superb attack from deep inside their half ending up by Lee Byrne making his way into the Irish 22.
The defence was penalised for slowing the ball down and Parra put the French back in the lead.
This was turning out to be a game very physical game of chess between these two heavyweight and the next score came through the pure class of Brock James on the last play of the half.
The Australian fly-half inherited of a loose ball on half-way and under a lot of pressure but he turned around, beat a couple of defenders before offloading in the tackle to Alexandre Lapandry who broke the line.
But James wasn't done yet. He quickly went back to his feet, dropped back into the pocket and slotted a drop-goal to give the home side a 15-9 lead at the break.
A Sexton penalty reduced the score ten minutes in the second half but the rest of the game saw both sides throw away good opportunity with either handling errors or poor lineouts.
Clermont went for a last attempt at depriving Leinster from the losing bonus-point on the last play of the game when they were awarded a penalty.
But, as Parra kicked the ball out setting up a 5-metre lineout, it turned out he did so three seconds after the clock turned red showing 80 minutes.
Referee Nigel Owens was fully aware of it and signaled the end of the game.
For Clermont
Penalties: Parra 4
Drop Goal: James
For Leinster
Penalties: Sexton 4
Clermont : Byrne; Sivivatu, Rougerie (capt.), Fofana, Nalaga; James, Parra; Debaty, Kayser, Zirakashvili; Cudmore, Hines; Bonnaire, Lapandry, Chouly.
Remplacments: Paulo, Chaume, Kotze, Pierre, Bardy, Radolsavljevic, Skrela, King.
Leinster: Madigan; McFadden, D'Arcy, Goodman, Nacewa; Sexton, Boss; Healy, Cronin, Ross; Cullen (capt.), Browne; McLaughlin, O'Brien, Heaslip.
Replacements: Strauss, McGrath, Bent, Toner, Jennings, Reddan, Carr, Conway.
Referee: Nigel Owens
Attendance: 17,560
Star men: Julien Bonnaire/Sean O'Brien – Clermont/Leinster
NICK VERDIER
You can relive all the action from the game here.