Good news Leinster fans, Brock James will be on kicking duty for Clermont on Sunday

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2M1vtpp1IIk

Do you remember the last time Clermont trusted Brock James to try and kick them past Leinster? He will have to try again on Sunday.

Sometimes news hit the wires and it immediately takes you back to a particular event. John Terry’s dismissal last night was a moment of idiocy that immediately brought to mind David Beckham’s kick out in 1998 against Argentina while Ramires’ goal in the same game was Roy Keane v Juve 1999-esque.

Anyway, when we heard today that Clermont would travel to Bordeaux without the services of David Skrela for Sunday’s Heineken Cup semi-final against Leinster, it brought to mind only one memory; Brock James against Leinster in 2010.

The Aussie fly-half is one of the best players in the world but he will always be remembered in this part of the world for his performance against Leinster in the 2010 Heineken Cup quarter-final. The French side lost by a solitary point, 29-28, and if James had landed any of these kicks, Clermont would have won.

Watch again above as he misses five kicks at goal and three drop goals, passing up an incredible 23 points for his team. It was an incredibly lucky escape for Leinster, and now James will have to step up to the tee and try and overcome them again.

In the quarter-final win over Saracens, James was called in for the injured Skrela after just three minutes and he kicked 17 points but the psychological impact of what happened the last time these two met in a knockout game must surely be on the Aussie’s mind.

Can’t wait for the first Clermont penalty on Sunday now.