Montpellier comeback dash London Irish hopes
MATCH REPORT: London Irish’s hopes of reaching the Round of 16 went up in smoke after Montpellier completed an incredible comeback to draw 21-21 in the Champions Cup at GGL Stadium on Saturday.
Irish were 21 points up with 48 minutes played in the Round 4 encounter, Adam Coleman, Juan Martin Gonzalez and Agustin Creevy all crossing in an impressive display from the visitors.
But Montpellier, already assured of a Champions Cup Round of 16 berth, grew into the game in the second half and got over through Thomas Darmon, Vincent Giudicelli and Cobus Reinach to level the scores.
Irish fell agonisingly short of reaching the EPCR Challenge Cup – a fourth bonus-point try and victory would have been enough, but Sale Sharks ultimately took 10th to qualify from Pool B along with ASM Clermont Auvergne.
Irish produced a terrific first-half display and were 14-0 up at the break, lock Coleman opening the scoring on five minutes as he crashed over following a line-out maul.
The visitors then survived a lengthy period of Montpellier pressure in style, defending resolutely before launching a counter-attack which ultimately ended with flank Gonzalez firing over from close range.
Montpellier showed glimpses of their quality but were met with robust Irish defence while handling errors saw multiple attacks break down.
The scorers
For Montpellier:
Tries: Darmon, Giudicelli, Reinach
Cons: Carbonel (3)
For London Irish:
Tries: Coleman, Gonzalez, Creevy
Cons: Jackson (3)
Yellow cards: Paddy Jackson (London Irish, 68')
Montpellier: 15 Anthony Bouthier, 14 Gabriel N’gandebe, 13 Thomas Darmon, 12 Geoffrey Doumayrou, 11 Vincent Rattez, 10 Louis Carbonel, 9 Leo Coly, 8 Zach Mercer, 7 Yacouba Camara, 6 Nico Janse van Rensburg, 5 Paul Willemse (captain), 4 Bastien Chalureau, 3 Mohamed Haouas, 2 Brandon Paenga-Amosa, 1 Simon-Pierre Chauvac
Replacements: 16 Vincent Giudicelli, 17 Enzo Forletta, 18 Titi Lamositele, 19 Clement Doumenc, 20 Cobus Reinach, 21 Pierre Lucas, 22 Julien Tisseron, 23 Elliott Stooke
London Irish: 15 Lucio Cinti Luna, 14 Michael Dykes, 13 Luca Morisi, 12 Rory Jennings, 11 Ollie Hassell-Collins, 10 Paddy Jackson, 9 Joe Powell, 8 Chandler Cunningham-South, 7 Juan Martin Gonzalez, 6 Josh Basham, 5 Adam Coleman, 4 Rob Simmons (captain), 3 Lovejoy Chawatama, 2 Agustin Creevy, 1 Danilo Fischetti
Replacements: 16 Mike Willemse, 17 Facundo Gigena, 18 Ollie Hoskins, 19 Chunya Munga, 20 Ben Donnell, 21 Caolan Englefield, 22 Eddie Poolman, 23 James Stokes
Referee: Mike Adamson (Scotland)
Assistant Referees: Sam Grove-White (Scotland), Ian Kenny (Scotland)
TMO: Ben Blain (Scotland)
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