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Timisoara Saracens will host French giants Clermont in the Challenge Cup on Saturday afternoon. The two teams are in Pool 1, and this will be the third round of the group stages.
Timisoara is struggling a bit this season, which was expected considering the fact that the team lost a large part of its financing over the Summer, and a few key players have left the club. The Romanian Champions are not even dominating the domestic league anymore, as they are third in the standings after 6 matches – although they have a game in hand and could be tied for the first place if they win that. In the Challenge Cup Timisoara got destroyed in the first two matches, losing 17-54 at home against Newport Dragons and 12-70 in France against Clermont.
The visitors will come into this match as group leaders, after claiming wins against Timisoara (by 58 points) and against Northampton in England (by 21 points). Clermont is doing well in the French Top 14 as well, where they are leading the standings after 11 rounds, so this is shaping up to be a very good season for them. Clermont will come into this match without a dozen of their key men, who will be rested for the more difficult games which lie ahead.
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Both teams are missing players ahead of this clash. Timisoara has some problems in the forward pack where quite a few guys are unavailable. Clermont will be without a dozen or so players, so this will be more like their “B” lineup, but it`s still a strong one which features a few of their key guys as well.
Timisoara Saracens: 1. Halalilo, 2. Capatana, 3. Pungea, 4. Poparlan, 5. Iftimiciuc, 6. Morrison (c), 7. Neculau, 8. Stewart, 9. Conache, 10. Rose, 11. Zaharia, 12. Manumua, 13. Popa, 14. Simionescu, 15. Fercu
Clermont: 1. Uhila, 2. Beheregaray, 3. Simutoga, 4. Jedrasiak, 5. Van der Merwe, 6. Cancoriet, 7. Fischer, 8. Chouly (c), 9. Cassang, 10. Williams, 11. Raka, 12. Moala, 13. Naqalevu, 14. Grosso, 15. Betham
This Timisoara team is not very strong this season, and the Challenge Cup is clearly a step (or more) above their level right now. This was also the case two years ago when Timisoara last participated in the competition, losing all matches by an average margin of 42.33 points (!!!) – and one was a 0-28 disqualification, which actually made the average margin of defeat more respectable.
Back then Timisoara actually had a better team and was still unable to compete. Now, the situation is worse. The hosts lost financing and some key players in the off season, and are looking pretty bad – like it is the case with all Romanian rugby. The domestic league is not producing anything, which is obvious from Timisoara`s European results, but also everytime a Romanian divisionary team plays. This year Romania “A” lost three times to England Counties (a team made from English players who are playing in the third league and below), and Romania was also recently destroyed by USA and beaten by Uruguay even though in that matches there were also a few foreign based guys playing – all these games being played at home.
What`s even worse for Timisoara ahead of this match is the fact that their financial problems are impacting the squad in a very bad way. The players have not been paid in many months, with some of them even complaining on social media. Sure, they will still be motivated to perform against a huge club by Clermont, but the atmosphere in the team is horrible, and that can`t have a positive impact on the performances of the players.
While Clermont will not field its best lineup here, it is still a very strong one. It is actually arguably better than lineup which beat the Romanians 70-12 a few weeks ago in France, and there will be quite a few first team regulars on the pitch.
Timisoara just doesn`t have what it takes to compete against a team like Clermont, the guys are unpaid, morale is low, and the fact that the hosts have a few injuries will make it even harder for them. Clermont plays at a different pace and will shred Timisoara`s defense to pieces out wide, while the Romanians will likely get dominated in the scrum as well (normally their only hope) given that they are missing a few players.
The weather will be the only factor working against Clermont, as there will be about 5° and possibly light showers at game time, but the pitch is in good condition and it shouldn`t affect the visitors too much.
My tip is Clermont to cover the 44.5 handicap. The line is only available at a handful of bookies right now, but more will follow as the match gets closer. I`d probably take even a higher line if it moves, probably as high as 50 points, with a bit lower stakes. Prediction: Timisoara Saracens – Clermont 6 – 68.
Pick: Clermont -44,5
Odds: 1.77 @ 1xBet
Stake: 10
Possible profit: 7.70
Event date: 8 December
