Relief as French resist ’Munster hunger’

“Sizzled, suffered, then won” – that was how L’Equipe chose to set the tone for what was a day of high drama at the Stade de la Mosson on Saturday.

Clermont are no strangers to these occasions in recent years but their relief at holding off Munster’s spirited second-half fightback was an emotion shared by many of the French newspapers yesterday.

Besides a general belief that Clermont have been the best team in Europe this year and that they went into this match with something to spare, there was a genuine fear that cup kings Munster, led by Ronan O’Gara, could have railroaded the French giants into submission.