Last day of the year and Montpellier take on Racing Metro, a beautiful day with a warm sun on the backs of a brilliant crowd of 12,225 keeping them in festive mood of grand proportions

      Montpellier had an added bonus, they included Captain Fantastique, Fulgence Ouedraogo on the starting team sheet, all this week it was a will he play won’t he play situation, but finally the choice was made and he took his no 6 shirt with pride onto the park for what was to be a match which included everything that a festive crowd could enjoy.

      Montpellier did not get off to the best of starts, letting Racing score an easy try after some shabby defending through Vaquin in the 7th minute. They hit back with a Bustos Moyano penalty shortly afterwards but the New Years Eve crowd did not have to wait long, a series of pick and goes on the Racing line before one final thrust, and yes Captain Fantastique was the player hanging onto the ball over the Racing try line , Bustos Moyano missed the conversion.

      Montpellier had plenty of chances in the first half but some sloppy handling and several forward passes did not help the situation, the Racing defence line was being broken time after time, but the stylish finishing was not to be seen, well not just yet, the teams went into half time at 8-7 in favour of the home side.

     The second half was a different kettle of fish, Montpellier much more organised and playing with a spirit that we all know well, started to inflict damage on the opposition, a Wisniewski drop goal attempt was charged down by Francois Trinh-Duc, the ball was quickly thrown out to Lucas Amorosino and off he went leaving everyone in his shadow as he raced the 80 yards to touch down over the line to score a brilliant counter attack try, Bustos Moyano added the extras 15-8 and Montpellier were starting to tick.

      Santi Fernandez added another try which was quickly followed by Massi Matadigo all three tries were converted by the precision of Bustos Moyano, the bonus point was nearly in the pocket , but with only  a minute to go Bo Bo collected a hack on with maybe a little knock on and a little luck, the ball  bounced right into his arms and he was under the posts in a flash, he converted his own try with a drop goal effort, but unfortunately the time had run out and that bonus point that Montpellier nearly had was out of the window.  

      Nevertheless a match plentiful in action, line outs were won cleanly, two handed affairs, and Drikus Hancke managed to steal a couple off the opposition, a pack of forwards who played as a unit and played well, the Gazelles in the backs willing to try anything and everything but with security in mind, in fact just the tonic that Montpellier needed, a platform to start 2012.

      A special mention to Nems Leleimalefaga, who played another full 80 mins bar the last 5 and was prominent in the loose, the scrums, and a few clever deft little touches when he had the ball in hand which was more often than usual. It will be a massive challenge to get into that top 6 but if the right mind set and this kind of team spirit continues, Montpellier will give many of the TOP 14 teams problems, and one or two victories away from home will surely get us where we need to be.

 

     Steve Whittell.

     

 

     Pitch side interview with Lucas Amorosino.

     

     SW. Lucas an excellent win for Montpellier today and finish the year in style.

 

     LA.  Very good win for us this week we have been training really hard and the hard work has paid off we lost last week against Toulouse and knew we had to win today this could have been the most important match of the season. With this result we can now start looking at the top 6 as we are not that far away. We still have to continue to progress and keep working hard to enable us move forward for the rest of the season, we have the makings of a really good team with excellent coaches and if we continue to work hard we can qualify for the end of season playoffs.

 

     SW. Your try Lucas not bad at all, just a little Argentinean flair!!

 

     LA. That was good we always try and play fast if the opportunity arises we have a go and that was just perfect, Francois charged down the drop goal and the ball came quickly out to me  and then I just had to run very fast, no problem just got there first managed to put the ball down, good feeling!! We scored 4 tries against a good team and I think it was a good match to watch for the supporters, we must now carry on in the same form.

 

      SW. It was a shame to loose the bonus point?

 

      LA . Yes but still a good win, sometimes a little luck can go a long way but Racing did not score any points so that was ok. And we can now go to Brive next week looking for success.

 

      SW. Cheers Lucas have an excellent New Year best wishes for you your family and hopefully every success for Montpellier in the New Year.

 

     LA Thank you!!