Blue and yellow is the colour

The French passion for rugby union is as well known as their love of fine wine.

But, in the same way that wines vary in quality so does the French national side, sometimes even in the same match. Capable of sublime attacking flair the French have the ability to beat anyone; witness the second half come back against the All Blacks at last years world cup, but at the same time can make hard work of beating lowlier opposition and are prone to self destruct during a match. When things start to go wrong the players can get frustrated and quickly loose their discipline.

Nowhere is rugby held in higher esteem than in the French region of the Auvergne, represented by one of the country’s top 14 clubs, Clermont Auvergne, based in the capital of the region, Clermont Ferrand.

The club was founded in 1911 under the initiative of Monsieur Marcel Michelin, one of the founders of the giant tyre manufacturer, who remain one of the cities biggest employers and the clubs owners and, not surprisingly, one of its chief sponsors. The official title of the club is ASM Clermont Auvergne. The initials ASM originally stood for Association Sportive Michelin, until, in 1922 the French government passed an act which forbade the use of a firms name within the title of a sporting club. Not wishing to discard the now well known initials, the club changed its title to l’Association Sportive Montferrandaise Clermont Auvergne, thus retaining the abbreviation ASM.

In 2008 the club completed the re-development of its magnificent €12 million, 16,000 capacity stadium, named after Marcel Michelin Surrounded by beautiful volcanic uplands, the ground is one of the most picturesque in the country, dominated by the Puy de Dome, the highest point overlooking the city. A visit to this stadium on match day is a treat for any rugby enthusiast. The traditional French band maintains a constant medley of trumpet inspired tunes, not even letting up during kicks at goal, a feature in contrast to the silence observed at grounds in the UK. Together with the frequent chants of A S M, A S M, even when the crowd is at less than full capacity the ground can feel full. However, with an average attendance of 14,185 for the 2007/2008 season ,this is a rare event.

Despite ASM Clermont Auvergne’s size and support they have not quite reached the level of achievement expected of them, particularly in recent times. They have been runners up no fewer than 9 times in the French championship, most recently in the past two seasons, and have never won the title. Their greatest successes have come in Europe, with two victories in the European Challenge Cup, the second tier European competition behind the Heineken Cup, in 1999 and 2007 and one runners up spot in the same competition in 2004. However, their aspirations must be to finally land the French championship and go further in the Heineken Cup. Their task in the latter has not been made any easier in recent times, being included in the same group as Munster (the eventual champions) last season, and again in this year’s competition. Despite the surprising loss to Sale in the first round of this years competition, Clermont Auvergne are a fine team at home as demonstrated by victories over Munster last year and in Sundays third round tie. However, like many French sides, they are flawed by their away form. They are still in with a chance of qualifying for the knock out stages but have yet to play Sale and Munster away from home, a tough proposition for any team. Clermont certainly have the players to cause an upset at next week-ends return fixture at Munster. The return from injury of their inspirational captain Aurelien Rougerie, the in form battering ram props Thomas Domingo and Davit Zirakashvili and the quality of Australian fly-half Brock James combine to give Clermont hope that they can go one better than last year and turn over Munster at home.