HEC SF: ASM Clermont Auvergne vs Munster Rugby, 27 April 5pm SS1 *Warning post 149*

Clermont:
15 Lee Byrne, 14 Sitiveni Sivivatu, 13 Regan King, 12 Wesley Fofana, 11 Naipolioni Nalaga, 10 Brock James, 9 Morgan Parra,
8 Damien Chouly, 7 Julien Bardy, 6 Julien Bonnaire, 5 Nathan Hines, 4 Jamie Cudmore, 3 Davit Zirakashvili, 2 Benjamin Kayser, 1 Thomas Domingo.

Replacements: 16 Ti'i Paulo, 17 Vincent Debaty, 18 Clement Ric, 19 Julien Pierre, 20 Alexandre Lapandry, 21 Ludovic Radosavljevic, 22 Jean Marcel Buttin, 23 Noa Nakaitaci or David Skrela.

Munster:
15 Felix Jones, 14 , 13 Casey Laulala, 12 James Downey, 11 Simon Zebo, 10 Ronan O'Gara, 9 Conor Murray,
8 James Coughlan, 7 Tommy O'Donnell, 6 Peter O'Mahony, 5 Paul O'Connell (c), 4 Donnacha Ryan, 3 BJ Botha, 2 Mike Sherry, 1 David Kilcoyne.

Replacements: 16 Damien Varley, 17 Wian du Preez, 18 John Ryan, 19 Billy Holland, 20 Paddy Butler, 21 Cathal Sheridan, 22 Ian Keatley, 23 Denis Hurley.

Date: Saturday 27th April
Venue: Stade de la Mosson, Montpellier
Kick-off: 5pm (6pm French time)
Weather: 15° C. Light morning rain but clearing by kick-off.
Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)
Assistant referees: Ian Davies (Wales)

The hugely anticipated semi-final is finally here! French powerhouses Clermont Auvergne will host Munster in the coastal city of Montpellier. The French side have been the bridesmaids of this competition for many years, with successive strong sides failing to make even the final of the European rugby's premier tournament. However, one feels that this could be their year as they are comfortable favourites to defeat the Irish province.

In a recent column in Midi Olymique, former French international and Italy coach Pierre Villepreux described Clermont Auvergne's style of play as a "driving force in the modern game". Certainly les jaunards have the propensity to entertain while engaging in a winning brand of rugby. When on form, they use their star performers to the maximum effect, we don't see talents like Wesley Fofana wasted on the wing like with the French national team.

Munster's season was turned on its head with the win over Harlequins. While they did qualify from their Heineken Cup pool, the performances didn't inspire much hope in further progression. The Pro12 results left a lot to be desired, including losses to both Scarlets and Cardiff in Cork. Munster's performance at the Stoop harkened back to the performances of old, a dominant physical display accompanied by a controlling presence at flyhalf.

SELECTIONS
For Clermont, injuries to key men Rougerie and Vosloo have forced Clermont into a number of changes. Portugese international Julien Bardy starts at flanker while Regan King comes in at outside centre. Brock James has been declared fit and will start at flyhalf, with the availability of David Skrela as a replacement yet to be determined.

Of the injury doubts for Munster, only captain Doug Howlett and Donncha O'Callaghan are unavailable as O'Mahony, Downey and Earls are all named in the starting lineup. Stephen Archer is injured so John Ryan steps up to the bench as the replacement tighthead prop. Billy Holland takes the bench place instead of O'Callaghan.

The centre battle is set to be an important deciding factor in the outcome of this game. Wesley Fofana is simply on fire and is probably the form centre in the world at the moment. Last weekend against Toulouse, he once again showed what he is capable, scoring a fantastic individual try within 40 seconds of the kickoff. He seems to possess all the attributes of a great attacking player. He has great pace and acceleration, along with being evasive due to his step and upper body strength. The former Scarlet Regan King comes in for the injured Aurelien Rougerie and offers a different skillset to the Clermont captain. He doesn't possess the brute strength of Rougerie but is a creative player that the likes of Fofana and Sivivatu can feed off.

Munster's centre partnership of Downey and Laulala is one that has never consistently performed this season. Munster's use of James Downey in attack has come under much question, with Downey only occasionally used as a crash ball merchant that his size supports. Laulala possesses soft handling skills but often he has cheaply given away possession due to wrongly timed passes or offloads. Also while both players are effective tacklers, their defence has been suspect at times this season. The midfield defence must be watertight or Clermont's attack will cut Munster apart.

HOW CAN MUNSTER WIN?
In the quarter-final three weeks ago, Montpellier were able to gain a 9-3 lead in the first 20 minutes by imposing themselves physically in both open play and the set-piece. In the cauldron of Stade Marcel-Michelin, Montpellier were able to dominate the opening exchanges. However when their flyhalf Francois Trinh-Duc went off injured they seemed to lose all shape and the Clermont juggernaut steamrollered Montpellier for the rest of match.

Munster must display a physical endeavour that is above the level showed against Harlequins, Clermont have the 'enforcer' figures like Cudmore and Hines that won't allow their pack to fold as easily as Harlequins. Paul O'Connell and Donnacha Ryan will feel confident in their ability to compete at the lineout and that is an area that Munster must dominate. No team can display consistency in attack if the source of possession is messy. Given Clermont's strength in depth on the bench, with strong ball carriers like Paulo and Debaty ready to enter the fray late in the second half, Munster must be in the lead with twenty minutes to go. They lack the cohesive back play to be chasing a game where they are struggling up front. The much fabled Munster "belief" and "pride" that has been marketed to death must be in full display if Munster want to compete.

PREDICTION:
Munster know full well that they must put in their best performance of the season to even compete with Clermont. The return of Brock James means Clermont will have a steady and controlling influence at flyhalf that can dominate with a strong kicking game, a Plan B should Munster somehow be able to shutdown their brilliant backline. Both sides have 'cup rugby' experience in abundance and should be mentally prepared for what is set to be a fantastic occasion to rival that in Bordeaux last season. Should both sides turn up, there can be only one winner. On paper, Clermont are stronger in most positions and the impact of the bench will be telling. Clermont should win comfortably with a late score or two to put a gloss on the scoreline; a strong Munster performance will not be reflected by the final scoreline. Clermont 25-6 Munster


Player images - INPHO Photgraphy, Getty Images.
Heineken Cup logo - copyright European Rugby Cup Ltd
Munster logo - copyright Irish Rugby Football Union 2013
ASM Clermont logo - copyright L'ASM Clermont Auvergne 2013
Stadium photo - from www.touslesstades.fr