Clinical win for Clermont
Clermont Auvergne gave a warning to Pool Three rivals Leicester and the Ospreys with a 36-18 win over Viadana.
Last Updated: 10/10/09 6:52pm
Clermont Auvergne gave a warning to Pool Three rivals Leicester and the Ospreys with a convincing 36-18 win over Viadana.
The current Top 14 leaders picked up a maximum five-point haul on the opening weekend of the new Heineken Cup season thanks to five tries.
Brent Russell scored twice, while Seremaia Bai, substitute Vincent Debaty and Thibaut Privat also crossed for the hosts at the Marcel Michelin.
All Viadana offered in reply were six penalties, Pierre Hola and Garry Law kicking three apiece.
The Italian team knew they were facing a tall order before the opening kick-off as they took on a powerful Clermont line-up despite several star names being given the weekend off.
Early try
Their task became even harder when they fell behind inside a minute, centre Bai forcing his way over to get the home side on the scoreboard.
Morgan Parra converted and also knocked over a 12th minute penalty before adding the extras when Clermont crossed again, Russell getting his first of the afternoon to help open up a 17-3 lead at a point-a-minute ratio.
They did slow down from then on, though, allowing Viadana to close the gap before half time thanks to three penalties.
The visitors slotted over another three points to make it 17-12 before Clermont upped the tempo again, Debaty and lock Privat crossing in the space of two minutes.
Scrum-half Parra added one of the two conversion attempts to finish the match with a personal haul of nine points.
Russell took over the kicking duties to convert his second try, the score coming with Viadana down to 14 men following centre Matthew Harvey being shown a yellow card in the 66th minute.
