Morgan Parra: Wants to erase Clermont's 2010/11 loss to Leinster
Clermont are determined to avoid another defeat to Leinster in Dublin when they face the defending champions on Saturday.
That is the word from the Pool Five leaders' scrum-half Morgan Parra, who despite his side's 15-12 win at Stade Marcel Michelin last weekend, still has painful memories of their last encounter against Joe Schmidt's charges at the Aviva Stadium.
On that occasion Leinster secured a 24-8 win at the same stage of the 2010/11 tournament in front of their fervent home crowd.
"We've already had the chance to play this double-header and after conceding a defensive bonus point at home we went to Dublin with good intentions before exploding," Parra told the ERC website
"We don't want to relive that experience. We'll need to show that we've made some progress."
This season sees Clermont heading into this weekend's clash five points clear of Leinster and the defending champions are keen to secure a win which will keep them in the hunt for quarter-final qualification.
Leinster manager Guy Easterby admits that a win will be vital for his side but feels it's still too early to determine who will qualify for the play-offs.
"I don't think the result on Saturday is going to determine who is top of the group or who goes through from the group, he said.
"We just see it as a game we have to go out and win. It's not all about topping the group. There are opportunities further down the line.
"Plus the fact that there are two more games, it's not like the Pool finishes on Saturday evening.
"We've got a couple of tough fixtures left, as have Clermont, and our group is particularly competitive.
"With the three games we've got left, we've got two at home and one away and we'll just be looking to do our best in all of those."
Comments
leinster_goy says...
getting the win on saturday is essential, hopefully by more than 7. if we make it 5-4 on our favour, that puts the pressure on les jaunards to get 10 points from the last two games. its not beyond impossible that they won't get a bonus point win against either exeter or scarlets - stranger things have happened in rugby
Posted 08:53 14th December 2012