French adventure forces Nick Abendanon to start all over again

Full-back’s move from Bath has proved an eye-opener but he is loving every minute at Clermont Auvergne as they prepare to take on Northampton in the European Champions Cup quarter-final

• Northampton keep George North on the sidelines against Clermont

Twice in the first 22 seconds of last weekend’s Top 14 showdown between Clermont Auvergne and Stade Français in Paris, Nick Abendanon got his hands on the ball. The first was as stand-in scrum half, the second to launch a sweeping move from under the shadow of his own posts with Zac Guildford. It’s what Abendanon has been doing all season and why, in eight months, he has become such a favourite with the Clermont faithful.

Unfortunately in Paris things did not quite work out. First Guildford’s return pass suggested the New Zealand wing’s radar needed adjusting, then Abendanon spent the rest of the afternoon on the wrong end of a nine-try thriller. One player in particular, the Stade centre Jonathan Danty, a man who Abendanon thinks is overdue a French cap and who he describes as a Mathieu Bastareaud “but with more skill and better things to offer”, left a considerable impression. There have been better ways to prepare for a European Rugby Champions Cup quarter-final against Northampton.

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from Sport | The Guardian http://ift.tt/19LkKV0

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