ASM Clermont Auvergne are through to the tournament semi-finals for the third straight season.

And Clermont head coach Vern Cotter believes that experience carried them through to a battling 22-16 quarter-final victory over Leicester Tigers that stretched their unbeaten Stade Michel Michelin run to a phenomenal 75 matches.

“It’s a major achievement to reach the semi-finals of such a great competition at this,” said Cotter.

“The first-half performance was the best we have produced for a long time.

"But our experience from previous big games such as last year’s final was also crucial in the second half. It helped us both in attack and defence to raise our level when we really needed.

“We will celebrate this and then start preparing for the next challenge.

“It was a tough game, as we expected, from Leicester. We had spoken all week about our discipline and that was very important in such a tight game as this.

“There were a couple of scrums and a penalty that went against us that I’m not sure were justified but our players kept to the job in hand and remained as efficient as possible.

“Brock [James] played a very smart game tactically with his kicking that had an effect. We also attacked well in the first half and seized the opportunities but perhaps didn’t put the same pressure on Leicester in the second half.”