Rugby:Clermont Auvergne's Wesley Fofana was convinced he "rescued" his side from defeat against Leinster yesterday when he crossed the line in the 78th minute of the European Cup semi-final at the Stade Chaban-Delmas.
The France international celebrated wildly with team-mates after seemingly touching down and the 30,000-strong home support believed it had witnessed an heroic escape, but referee Wayne Barnes correctly disallowed the try after consulting the television match official.
Fofana had indeed crossed the line but under pressure from a despairing Gordon D’Arcy he was unable to manoeuvre his arm and ground the ball, though he was sure he did.
"The pack really did a great job," said the centre, reflecting on an incident that could haunt him for some time. “It is a play that we run quite often in combination with Morgan (Parra). I crossed the line, but I did not control the ball well. I actually felt that I touched down before releasing the ball. That's why I jumped for joy.
"I thought I rescued it and that we put an end to Leinster. It came down to a few centimetres. This is a fateful decision but I accept it. There are a lot of regrets and disappointment."
Fofana added: “It's a body blow, but we had one minute to play and we wanted to give everything to try and get a second chance too win. There was a tremendous intensity and we are not ashamed in defeat.”
Coach Vern Cotter couldn't hide his frustration after the 19-15 defeat that denied his side the chance to face Ulster in Twickenham.
"It's disappointing, very disappointing. We put in so much effort and that wasn't rewarded," said Cotter, whose team were appearing in a first semi-final against a side that have been in the last four. "We'll need time to digest the defeat. It's very difficult to talk about it right now. It's a game that I don't want to watch again straight away but I'll have to.
"It was a very tough game, a very close game, but it's always like that in knockout games. We have to use it and learn from it to make sure we win next time.
Clermont lost star backs Julien Malzieu and Lee Byrne to injury early on but Cotter refused to use that misfortune as a reason for the narrow loss. Instead the New Zealander focussed on a costly six-minute spell immediately after the break when Leinster turned a 12-6 deficit into a 16-12 lead thanks to a converted Cian Healy try and a Rob Kearney drop goal.
"The beginning of the second half was frustrating for us," added Cotter. "We were six points ahead and they scored a try and a drop goal. We played against the wind in second half and we didn't adapt well. I'm disappointed about that.
"It wasn't planed for us to make so many changes so early but the bench know they need to be ready at any time and they did well. Maybe it was a little bit of a disruption but it wasn't that critical and I was happy with how Jean-Marcel Buttin and Regan King played.
"There are some very positive points to take from the game even if we are disappointed. The last few minutes showed the will, character and spirit of the team. Everybody agrees that this squad has character - now we have to work on some details."
