Leicester and Ford’s focus on basics leaves Clermont seeking miracle

Let us be honest, the Champions Cup tie between Leicester and Clermont is in effect over. The Premiership leaders produced one of the more remarkable away performances in European rugby last week, thrashing the Top 14 side 29-10, scoring five tries to one and maintaining their supremacy despite playing with 14 men for the final 20 minutes.

Based on those events in the Auvergne, something spectacular and calamitous in equal measure would need to transpire at Welford Road on Saturday to prevent Leicester’s march into the next round. That is exactly what Clermont are banking on.

“We believe we can do it. Why not?” asks JJ Hanrahan, Clermont’s Irish utility back. “We know no one outside the group gives us a chance. But you know what, that’s liberating in a way. We just want to go out there and give it our all. We owe it to the fans to give a better account of ourselves.”

Their “below average” display, as Hanrahan describes it, stunned their usually boisterous home support at the Stade Marcel-Michelin. “Before the last 10 minutes, it was the best atmosphere I’ve seen since we beat Toulouse,” Hanrahan says, referencing a 16-13 win on New Year’s Day. “But that last 10 was chilling. You could see it hurt them. That’s affected us. We take ownership of that.”

Leicester’s triumph was the first time a Premiership team had beaten Clermont on their own patch since Sale’s 32-15 win in 2008. It was achieved through simple rugby perfectly executed. A well-drilled lineout, a brutally efficient driving maul, well-worked clearing kicks and an insatiable hunger around the breakdown strangled the home side into submission.

“They’re so clinical,” Hanrahan says. “They’re clearly coached very well. They’re so hard to play against. Even if we