Ledesma rues missed opportunities

ON A DAY of huge hits and titanic forward battles, it was probably fitting that the man-of-the-match award went to a man who was permanently in the thick of things, Clermont hooker Mario Ledesma.

He’s in the twilight of his career but the Argentine is as powerful as ever, his dynamism around the fringes rewarded with a first-half try, after a clever inside pass from scrum-half Pierre Mignoni.

“A great game to play in,” he admitted. “It was a little bit frustrating to have so much possession and not get the scores. We deserved to win by more than seven points, I thought.

“We were in very good position at half-time but then we got two yellow cards, to go with another yellow just before half-time, and it’s very difficult to play 14 against 15 for 30 minutes — and 13 against 15 for a few minutes — against a team like Munster.”

Certainly Clermont could have won by more than seven points, looked at one stage like they were headed for a bonus-point win, but equally certain is that Munster could also have won this game, or drawn at the least.

The bonus point the visitors earned, however, the bonus-point denied Clermont, could yet prove vital in this pool.

“Yes,” he agreed, “We’re still in with a chance but we’ve made it very difficult for ourselves. We’ll try to win this last game against Llanelli, add up all the points, see where we stand.

“But I am enjoying it all, very much. We are in the hardest pool but days like this are special for me. I am 34, I don’t have a lot of games like this left to play, so I enjoy days like this, days like the game against Wasps or against Llanelli,” he said.

“We’re having a great time in this pool. It was a great atmosphere; it’s great to see so many visiting supporters. When I was with Castres it was the same, with Munster, I think we had over 1,500 Munster supporters and I think it was even more today.

“The Irish supporters are very good, they have the right spirit, before the game, during the game, and after the game.” So does Mario Ledesma, let it be added.