EXCLUSIVE: Clermont Auvergne star Lee Byrne believes the scars of last season can help push his side to the pinnacle of European rugby this year.
The Yellow and Blue have made a promising start to the 2013/14 campaign with them third in the Top 14 standings – one point behind leaders Toulon – and a win over Harlequins last month put them in a strong position to reach the knockout stages of the Heineken Cup.
The club also received a massive boost yesterday with the news that highly-regarded Wales and British & Irish Lions star Jonathan Davies will join them from Scarlets in time for next season.
In short, everything is looking rosy for a club that was on the floor in the summer, their past reputation as nearly men coming to the fore again as their season unravelled on home straight.
After a heartbreaking Heineken Cup semi-final defeat to Leinster in 2012, they suffered another damaging loss in the 2013 final – going down by a single point as they went down to Toulon in Dublin. And their misery was complete when just a few days later they were toppled by Castres 25-9 in the Top 14 semi-final.
Byrne told Sport360°: “It was disappointing not to win the Heineken Cup. I thought in the game that we were going to win and it was a huge frustration.
“We started well this year, we’re in good form and we want to repeat but go one step further this year, at least for as long as the Heineken Cup is going to be around.
“It was frustrating because we had a Top 14 game straight after last year’s final and we were mentally depleted so we were blown away by Castres.
“They are not 25 points better than us, we know that, but the mental toll was there and we were knocked out and our season just ended like that.
“One minute we were in a final and a semi-final and just like that you’re out of everything. That’s rugby and that’s sport, anything can be taken away from you in minutes.
“But I think the team is different this year,” he added. “We had a good team last year and hopefully now we can gain that winning mentally because historically Clermont have been known to lose a lot of finals.
“Hopefully we can work it out this year. I’ve only been here for three years and lost one final.
“So much of the game is in the mind and that’s what we have to work on.”
With French rugby offering financial rewards other leagues cannot match, Clermont are set to remain at the forefront of the European rugby.
And signings like Davies, a genuine star of the Lions’ series win over Australia will certainly help them fulfil their ambitions.
A chest injury in last Saturday’s defeat to South Africa means the flamboyant centre will miss a chunk of this season, but will be more than ready to link up with compatriot Byrne in July.
And Clermont certainly believe they have pulled off a major coup in luring him from Scarlets.
The club’s sporting director Jean- Marc Lhermet said: “We can only be delighted to welcome Jonathan.
“His profile fits perfectly to the game that we practise.
“Despite his young age, he has a huge experience of high-level matches and is one of the world’s best players in his position. He will be an asset to our team.
“Jonathan decided to leave Wales for a new adventure , and we are happy that it is with the ‘yellow and blue’.”
Davies’ departure is the latest in what has become an exodus of Welsh talent. Byrne was one of the first to be recruited, while Jamie Roberts, James Hook, Dan Lydiate, Luke Charteris all ply their trade in the Top 14.
At Clermont, Davies is likely to form a tantalising midfield axis with brilliant France international Wesley Fofana.
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