Clermont clip the Eagles' wings
Sun, 10 Aug 2008 15:36
French Top 14 club side Clermont Auvergne got their trip to the United States off to a winning start when they beat the US's national team, the Eagles, 37-14 at the Blackbaud Stadium, Charleston, South Carolina, on Saturday.
The encounter promised a physical and hard-fought battle and both sides definitely delivered.
While the French tourists Clermont came out on top, the Eagles put forth a passionate performance.
"It was a tough match and that's exactly what we wanted," US Eagles captain Todd Clever said.
"The crowd was fantastic and they've been really supportive. Obviously we would've liked a win, but overall this match was everything we could've hoped for."
The Eagles came out looking sharp, controlling possession early on and getting a great break away from Clever, with the ball passing through several pairs of hands and went over 80 meters until eventually being brought into the try zone under split possession.
Clermont's Mirko Lozupone got his hands under the ball, pushing the Eagles back five meters.
The US were quickly able to work their way back into scoring position, however, and Mark Crick pushed over the Eagles' first and only try of the half just under 10 minutes into the match. Nese Malifa converted and the Eagles were up 7-0.
It took several minutes before Clermont Auvergne actually started to play like expected and Elvis Vermeulen took a quick penalty tap and crossed the line himself. Benoit Baby converted and the score was briefly tied at seven-all at just under the 20 minute mark.
Just a few moments later and Clermont's Baby proved spot on with an up and under kick to the corner and Mark Lozupone touched down for Clermont's second try of the match. Baby couldn't convert from that angle, but the French team's momentum was definitely mounting.
Clermont's flyhalf took the next one in himself, after a grubber kick got the French within range for a key line-out in US territory. Baby was able to covert his own try right in front of the posts to put them 19-7 ahead.
Although the US held the French club scoreless for the remainder of the half, Malifa missed a couple of possible penalty kicks and the half ended with the US trailing by 12 points.
In the second half, Baby converted a penalty to literally kick off the scoring in the 51st minute.
Eight minutes later, Pat Quinn held the ball up to stop Clermont from scoring, but Elvis Vermeulen would use that five meter scrum to score another five-pointer. Baby just added to the lead, with a second penalty kick in the 62nd minute, bringing Clermont to their biggest lead of the night at 30-7.
Finally, the US got a break and after several of the Eagles' offensive phases hit Clermont's proverbial wall, Alipate Tuilevuka was finally able to find a weak spot with Clermont down by one player. Tuilevuka broke through, scoring under the posts and Malifa hit the conversion to bring the score to within 16.
The intensity continued and both teams remained scoreless for the next 15 minutes, even with Clermont losing their second player to a yellow card. The French held strong and was finally able to seal the deal at the end, when at full strength, Julien Malzieu dove in the corner for the try as time wound down. Brock James converted and the whistle blew with a final score of 37-14.
"We didn't fall off," US coach Scott Johnson said.
"The guys played with a lot of heart until the very end. Three of their scores came off turnovers and set pieces, but once we actually played the ball, we showed promise. It wasn't a preferred outcome, but there is plenty to be excited about. This is a young team and we will definitely keep going in the right direction."
Scorers:
US Eagles:
Tries: Crick, Tuilevuka
Cons: Malifa
2
Clermont Auvergne:
Tries: Vermeulen, Lozupone, Baby, Etien, Malzieu
Cons: Baby 2, James
Pens: Baby 2
Teams:
United States Eagles: 15 Chris Wyles (OMBAC), 14 Tyrone Coppedge (South Logan Magpies), 13 Alipate Tuilevuka (Park City Haggis), 12 Albert Tuipulotu (Beziers, France), 11 Justin Boyd (Dallas Harlequins), 10 Valenese Malifa (Belmont Shore), 9 Chad Erskine (Rotherham, England), 8 Pat Quinn (Denver Barbarians), 7 Kevin Sheahan (St Mary's College, Dublin), 6 Todd Clever (OMBAC, captain), 5 John Van der Giessen (Denver Barbarians), 4 Ben Wiedemer (Belmont Shore), 3 Brian Lemay (Boston Irish Wolfhounds), 2 Mark Crick (PAC), 1 Matekitonga Moeakiola (Pukekohe, NZ).
Replacements: 16 Joe Welch (California), 17 Ben Barclay (University College Dublin), 18 Lou Stanfill (California), 19 Rikus Pretorius (California), 20 Mike Petri (NYAC), 21 Gary
Golding (California), 22 Colin Hawley (California).
Clermont Auvergne: 15 Anthony Floch, 14 Grant Esterhuizen, 13 Gonzalo Canale, 12 Arnaud Mignardi, 11 Julien Malzieu, 10 Benoit Baby, 9 Pierre Mignoni (captain), 8 Elvis Vermeulen, 7 Emmanuel Etien, 6 Julien Bonnaire, 5 Thibaut Privat, 4 Julien Pierre, 3 Vincent Debaty, 2 Mirko Lozupone, 1 Laurent Emmanuelli.
Replacements: 16 Benoit Cabello, 17 Davit Zirakashvili, 18 Loic Jacquet, 19 Alexandre Lapandry, 20 John Senio, 21 Brock James, 22 Thomas Combezou.
Referee: Paul Bretz (USA)
Touch judges: Chris Henshall (USA), Fred Thomas (USA)
