French Top 14 round three: Clermont Auvergne down Brive
Clermont Auvergne embarrassed Brive at home in Parc des Sports Marcel-Michelin over the weekend.
Clermont played strong rugby in a convincing win over Brive on the weekend. Brive was not able to keep pace as Clermont opened up a seven-point lead at half-time. After the break the home side kept the pressure on, amassing three tries to Brive’s zero, walking to a 33-9 victory.
Recap
Brive opened the scoring on the day with a penalty in the 17th minute from Mathieu Belie, giving the visitors a 3-0 lead.
Clermont countered with a penalty of their own, courtesy of scrum-half Morgan Parra in the 25th minute, to notch the game at three.
Clermont kept the pressure on and winger Julien Malzieu managed to scurry across the whitewash in the 28th minute. Parra tacked on the extra points and Clermont took over the lead at 10-3.
Belie attempted to get the visitors back in the game, hitting a penalty in the 31st minute to close the gap to 10-6.
However, Parra countered once again with a penalty in the 40th minute to ensure Clermont took a 13-6 advantage into half-time.
After the break Clermont was quick to get back on the score sheet, first with a drop-goal from Brock James in the 40th minute and then a penalty from Parra in the 47th minute, extending the lead to 19-6.
Centre Julien Caminati posted the last three points of the match for Brive, kicking a penalty in the 51st minute to close the gap to 19-9.
Afterwards Clermont took over pounding Brive at the offensive end. They would rush to two tries courtesy of Elvis Vermeulen and Vincent Debaty, both of which were capped off by conversions from Parra.
High-flying Clermont proved to be too much for Brive to handle as they finished off a 33-9 victory.
Analysis
Clermont have played inconsistent rugby over the last three weeks. Although the club is now two-and-one and sitting at the top of the League table, it is difficult to tell what type of game they will bring next week. They have twice been good enough to earn the bonus point, but at times have seemed to struggle at the offensive end.
Brive fall to one-and-two and have also been inconsistent throughout the course of the 2010-11 campaign. They will need to put together a better offensive game plan if they hope to challenge throughout the year.
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