Leinster's Heineken Cup hopes were left on tenterhooks after their second defeat in a week to Clermont Auvergne. The French side dominated the game from the first whistle and with the imperious Morgan Parra pulling the strings at scrum half, the result never looked in any doubt.
Having claimed a losing bonus point last week in France, Leinster knew that nothing more than a win was required. Clermont set their stall out early with Brock James putting some booming kicks into the Leinster defence. Ian Madigan who was again deputising at full back, made an early handling error from a James kick which set the tone for Leinster's afternoon.
Leinster gave away their first of twelve penalties which Parra converted. The versatile French international who incredibly is still only 24 put in a master class display both from the boot and at the breakdown. In a game that was full of huge hits, it was Clermont's intensity that won out in the end.
Clermont threatened to breach the Leinster rearguard on a couple occasions in the first half but the crucial moment came after 34 minutes when the highly talented Wesley Fofana crossed the line after a scintillating French attack.
Sitiveni Sivivatu glided past Gordon D'arcy and after a good offload to the onrushing Naipolioni Nalag, set up the platform for Fofana to power his way past two Leinster defenders on his way to the line.
Clermont's line speed was ferocious for the entire 80 minutes. Although Leinster enjoyed their fair share of possession in the first half, their usually potent attack looked completely devoid of any real penetration. With injuries to O'Driscoll and Kearney, their lack of cutting edge was plain to see. The centre pairing of Goodman and D'arcy were no match for their opposite numbers who were full of imagination and flair.
The defending champions went in at half time, trailing by just 10 points which was no thanks to the boot of Jonathan Sexton. Sexton who was the pick of the home side's players worked tirelessly in defence and was the one shining light in an otherwise unusually quiet Leinster back line.
Leinster who had earlier lost Richardt Strauss to what looked like a serious injury continued to falter at the scrum with Mike Ross in particular being singled out by referee Wayne Barnes on several occasions. Ross was adjudged to have again slipped his bind in the opening stages of the second half which allowed Parra to continue where he had left off, in slotting over his fifth successful penalty of the game.
The home side to their credit reacted well and almost got over for a try of their own but were denied when Clermont cynically gave away a penalty just under their own posts. Sexton duly added the simple penalty.
The home crowd finally found their voice after their side showed some of the attacking play that they have become so renowned for. They were soon drowned out however by the large travelling French contingent who bellowed Les Marseillaise out into the Dublin night sky.
The game plan evidently changed for Schmidt's side in the second half when Sexton opted to have a kick at goal from inside his own half after earlier shunning the opportunity of two 'easier' kicks. Sexton's effort dropped just short and left of the posts which left his side facing a continuing up hill battle.
Parra choose the quick tap when Clermont had won a penalty inside their own half. His quick thinking and brilliant jinking run typified his afternoon's performance. As he attempted to offload to Sivivatu, Sean O'Brien cynically held the All Black winger back for what was one of the easiest decisions of the day for Barnes. O'Brien went to the bin and the sense of inevitability could be felt amongst the 48,964 crowd inside the Aviva Stadium and so it proved to be.
Mike Ross' struggles were compounded when his last act of the day was to give away a penalty in another scrum. Barnes' toyed with the idea of sin binning the Irish prop but he was given the benefit of the doubt. Clermont were happy to keep the score board ticking over and in the metronome that is Parra, they had the ideal hit man.
To Leinster's credit, they never gave up and when Jennings crossed for a try which was converted, it gave them the glimmer of hope which they desperately craved. It would be proven to be fruitless however when almost directly from the restart, the home side's indiscipline cost them once again as a Parra penalty took his personal tally to 23.
Another brilliant line break by Sexton put Fergus McFadden in for a score in the corner in the last play of the game. It was scant consolation in terms of the match result but it meant that Leinster went away with another losing bonus point.
In the end, few could argue that Clermont more than deserved their victory. They stifled Leinster's attacking threat and dominated in every facet of the game. With Clermont well and truly putting their Leinster hoodoo behind them, they have now almost guaranteed themselves a home quarter final.
With the hoards of home fans leaving the stadium with ten minutes remaining, they knew that Leinster's fate was sealed. They also knew that could well have been watching the Champions-elect. But this time it wasn't their boys in blue.
