There is no tougher place to win at in France than the Stade Marcel Michelin, Clermont's bear-pit of a stadium, but Saracens came closer than anyone had managed since Biarritz burgled a three-point victory a year ago. The scoreline does not suggest how tight it was but the eight-man escort off the field given to the referee, Peter Allan, at the end showed how agitated the home supporters had become.
They are used to their side piling on the points, not having to defend in waves and absorb constant pressure, as was the case for the first 50 minutestoday. Saracens came with a policy of all-out attack rather than containment and, but for some unforced errors, a failure to support the ball-carrier that kept off‑loading to a minimum and some resolute defence, they would have pulled off one of the surprises of any season.
Clermont were at times hanging on, twice reduced to 14 men in the opening 40 minutes as they resorted to any means to keep their line intact. If Leicester are long versed in the art of winning matches that for a long time looked beyond them, Sarries are in the opposite corner: not only did they fail to turn possession into points, they conceded three soft tries, the third at the very end when they vainly chased a bonus point that should have been the very minimum they left with.
It may have been different had Alex Goode finished a mazy 50-metre run with the try it deserved. The move summed up Saracens on the day: Derick Hougaard and Brad Barritt ran from their own half but when Goode received the ball on halfway little appeared on. The full-back weaved in and out of six tackles but, in the act of touching down, the ball was knocked out of his grasp by Brock James.
Despite their dominance, Sarries trailed 12-3 at the break. Clermont had won their previous 14 matches at home, most by a wide margin, but they were surprised when, from the opening minute, the normally conservative Hougaard launched an attack from his own 22. The fly-half's goal-kicking suffered and he missed three penalties, but for all the ambition and intent shown by the visitors they lacked the wit to break down an obdurate defence and their one try came when Clermont were down to 14 men.
That was three minutes into the second half and brought Sarries back to 12-10, David Strettle taking a return pass from Chris Wyles out wide after a scrum. The prop Davit Zirakashvili was in the sin bin then after scragging Richard Wigglesworth from a blatantly offside position. The second-row Jamie Cudmore had spent 10 minutes cooling off at the start of the second quarter after punching Deon Carstens and Sarries were furious after what they saw as a stamp on the face of the flanker Jacques Burger went undetected.
Allan, a replacement for the injured Nigel Owens, was struggling to keep up. Andy Saull should have seen yellow for holding back Ti'i Paulo as the hooker was about to force a turnover while Aurélien Rougerie got away with a trip on Hougaard who had given away the opening try by misdirecting a short drop-out into the hands of Cudmore, who plucked the ball from Hugh Vyvyan's grasp.
Cudmore was off the field when Julien Malzieu scored Clermont's second try, from a scrum. When they were restored to 15, the home side started to find more territory and took control of the game through two Morgan Parra penalties. Sarries still tried to move the ball but Strettle was caught by Napolioni Nalaga when the line beckoned and Schalk Brits gave away four penalties for holding on. Nalaga fed off a mistake to score his side's final try at the death and Clermont's relief was tangible.
