On Saturday May 4, ASM will travel to the Twickenham Stoop, an arena with around 15,000 seats in London, to play its European Challenge semi-final against the Durban Sharks. The Clermontois qualified on Saturday for the last four of the competition after their demonstration against Ulster (53-14). To allow Christophe Urios' men to best prepare for this meeting, their match against Stade Français scheduled for the evening of April 28 has therefore been brought forward by one day.
The meeting was reversed with that between La Rochelle and Toulon, which will therefore be played on Sunday April 28 at 9:05 p.m. Clermont will finally welcome the Ile-de-France residents the day before at 9:05 p.m. Enough to save a day of preparation before this crucial meeting for Clermont, winner of the Challenge Cup in 1999, 2007 and 2019. Against the South African franchise and their numerous world champions like Lukhanyo Am, Makazole Mapimpi, or Eben Etzebeth, the Auvergnats will have a lot to do and they will not spare one day of additional preparation before reaching London.
Before facing Stade Français, Clermont will go to the Union Bordeaux-Bègles field, scene of a crazy match this weekend in the Champions Cup between UBB and Harlequins. Twelfth in the standings, ASM is only four points ahead of Montpellier, penultimate. Right in the Top 14 with seven wins in the last eight matches and leader in the standings, Stade Français will host Aviron Bayonnais this Saturday before playing in Auvergne.