Cotter: we were ripped apart

LEINSTER’S ability to attract a massive crowd of 45,000 for a Heineken Cup pool match was less significant than the victory that followed, as Joe Schmidt’s boys powered into a virtually unassailable position in Pool 2 at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday.

Cotter: we were ripped apart

French teams tend not to ‘do’ away fixtures, but Clermont, under New Zealander Vern Cotter, try not to subscribe to that standard practice. And Cotter was disturbed to say the least: “It was very disappointing, very poor. We were dominated in every sector of the game. I’m not sure of what I can say, what I should say, but we were taken to pieces. Little by little, as they got better, we lost our way,” the visiting coach admitted.

Leinster strengthened their position at the top of their pool and it was an obvious source of satisfaction for Cotter’s rival Schmidt, who admitted it should be a happy Christmas, albeit with a self-warning that advancement to the quarter finals is not yet a done deal.

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