Toulon hero: Jonny Wilkinson
A late Jonny Wilkinson penalty saw Toulon upset Clermont 15-12 in Sunday's Top 14 semi-final at a very wet Stadium de Toulouse.
Toulon will now face defending champions Toulouse - victors of Saturday's semi-final against Castres - in the final at the Stade de France next Saturday.
In a dramatic end to the game, Clermont scrum-half Morgan Parra missed a last-minute penalty, sending Toulon into their first final in 20 years.
Another try-less French semi-final saw all the points scored by the respective place-kickers. Despite having the lion's share of possession, Clermont fell short for the second time this season after losing out to Leinster in the Heineken Cup in April.
Clermont had started the game as the overwhelming favourites, but were their own worst enemies as a plethora of missed opportunities by les Jaunards handed Toulon sweet revenge for the controversial defeat to Vern Cotter's men at the same stage two years ago.
The game was not without it's own controversy however as a first-half penalty from Parra appeared to sail directly over the left upright. Parra insisted it had drifted inside but the match officials turned a deaf ear to his pleas without consulting the TMO.
In a ding-dong battle marked by ferocious hits, Parra and Wilkinson traded early penalties to leave the scores locked at 6-6 on the half-hour mark as both teams struggled with the slippery surface following morning showers in the south-west of France.
Toulon came closest to crossing the whitewash but scrum-half Sebastien Tillous Borde had the ball dislodged from his grip by Aurélien Rougerie in the act of diving over the try-line.
Wilkinson's third penalty gave Toulon a 9-6 lead at half-time after which the weather conditions deteriorated as heavy rain made expansive rugby very difficult.
Wilko slotted a fourth penalty on the hour mark to give Toulon a six-point lead but Parra replied with an excellent long-range penalty to keep Clermont within striking distance.
RCT's English sharpshooter would put his team back in front in the 76th minute however as he maintained his perfect record from the kicking tee.
Parra had a chance to force the match into extra time with the final kick of the game but his effort from 45m out fell agonisingly short, sparking wild celebrations from the Toulon players as the full-time hooter sounded.
The scorers:
For Clermont:
Pens: Parra 4
For Toulon:
Pens: Wilkinson 5
Clermont: 15 Jean-Marcel Buttin , 14 Nao Nakaitaci, 13 Aurélien Rougerie, 12 Wesley Fofana, 11 Sitiveni Sivivatu, 10 Brock James, 9 Morgan Parra, 8 Julien Bonnaire, 7 Alexandre Lapandry, 6 Julien Bardy, 5 Nathan Hines, 4 Jamie Cudmore, 3 Davit Zirakashvili, 2 Benjamin Kayser, 1 Thomas Domingo.
Replacements: 16 Ti'i Paulo, 17 Vincent Debaty, 18 Julien Pierre, 19 Elvis Vermeulen 20 Ludovic Radoslavjevic , 21 David Skrela, 22 Lee Byrne, 23 Daniel Kotze
Toulon: 15 Luke Rooney, 14 Alexis Palisson, 13 Mathieu Bastareaud, 12 Matt Giteau, 11 David Smith, 10 Jonny Wilkinson, 9 Sebastien Tillous Borde, 8 Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe, 7 Steffon Armitage, 6 Joe van Niekerk, 5 Simon Shaw, 4 Bakkies Botha, 3 Davit Kubriashvili, 2 Sébastien Bruno, 1 Eifion Lewis Roberts.
Replacements:16 Jean Charles Orioli, 17 Laurent Emmanuelli, 18 Christophe Samson, 19 Pierrick Gunther, 20 Geoffroy Messina, 21 Benjamin Lapeyre, 22 Fabien Cibray, 23 Levan Chilachava.
Referee: Pascal Gauzere
Comments
melkdave says...
I think people are expecting just a little to much try wise given the heavy driving rain,Those of us that have played know just how hard it can be to play fast expansive running rugby in these conditions on a heavy pitch,espicallyin a pressure situation /match,so perhaps some slack is justified .Apart from the lack of tries it was a descent match to watch all things considered
Posted 14:28 04th June 2012
pierredelot1 says...
Hey Kiwikev and all you cynics, if you want to play professional rugby and get properly paid for it, come to France, why stay at home earning peanuts and saying you're doing it for the love. Then twenty years later after your retirement you've got a cozy little nestegg and all well with the world. The others are shuffling round,arthritic and nothing to show for it. Except people congratulating them on past performances, without recognising that they are permanently injured and skint. Plan for the future my man. Much as you critisise these guys it's a great life over here, don't knock it.
Posted 09:25 04th June 2012
tha_mai says...
That's twenty-two successful kicks at goal from the two semis, and not one try. Maybe they are saving it for the final?
Or just have a penalty shoot-out like football?
Posted 00:16 04th June 2012
LeftRightOut says...
Two semi finals, 66 points in total, zero tries. *Yawn*.....
Posted 23:57 03rd June 2012
filipecp says...
Two semifinals, no tries. I think the french teams should think about it.
Posted 23:16 03rd June 2012
NHsaints says...
C'mon Toulon you beauties! That's the great thing about Wilko...he has a shocker with the boot very occasionally and he comes back from it the next week with his performance being perfect.
Posted 22:18 03rd June 2012
Theshaw says...
@leinster_goy Why no likes Toulon? I hope we get drawed with them Heineken cup, would be a lovely little holiday
Posted 21:14 03rd June 2012
Kiwikev says...
Are there any Frenchmen playing footy in France?
Posted 18:55 03rd June 2012
pierredelot1 says...
Well as for the refereeing what did you expect. But Clermont have lost two major games this season because at the crunch they failed to play controlled rugby. There was an air of panic about their play with twenty minutes to go and they were only six points adrift. Tough on Parra that he had three disallowed but the loss was hardly down to him. Maybe Clermont will learn from this. But great kicking by Wilkinson and great defence under pressure from Toulon. Terrible weather at the moment with heavy rain, so no easy day either.
Posted 18:37 03rd June 2012
papachinzo says...
Another weekend of awful refereeing. Luckily, the right teams won.
Posted 17:47 03rd June 2012
leinster_goy says...
come on toulouse, please stuff them in the final
thanks
L.G.
Posted 17:43 03rd June 2012