Clermont 17-28 Racing 92: Parisians book Champions Cup semi-final v Munster
Last Updated: 01/04/18 6:07pm
Racing 92 recovered from a shaky start to beat fellow French club Clermont 28-17 away and secure their spot in the last four of the Champions Cup on Sunday.
Racing, who quickly trailed 9-0, prevailed thanks to tries by Leone Nakarawa, Marc Andreu and Boris Palu with Maxime Machenaud adding three penalties and two conversions.
Three-times runners-up Clermont replied with four penalties by Morgan Parra and a Peter Betham try.
Racing will face Munster in Bordeaux on the weekend of April 21/22 for a place in the final, having already played them four times over the last two seasons in the pool stages.
Clermont opened a 9-0 lead thanks to three penalties by Parra, but Nakarawa reduced the arrears when he dived over after unsettling the hosts' defence with a fine dummy pass at the end of a sensational team move.
Machenaud converted and put the visitors ahead with a penalty just after the half hour. But Racing lost focus and were immediately punished.
Parra found space in the Racing defence and set up Betham with a long pass for the wing to touch down in the corner.
Machenaud and Parra then traded penalties early in the second half keeping the game tight, before the Racing scrum-half then found Dan Carter for the New Zealander's offload to be collected out wide by Andreu, who scored in the decisive moment of the match. The pass was referred to the TMO but deemed flat.
Just after the reset, Carter slalomed through the Clermont defence, found Teddy Thomas who then set up Palu for Racing's third try as the hosts looked hapless.
The home side thought they could threaten a comeback, but their hopes were dashed when Remy Grosso's try was disallowed for an accidental offside.