Clermont flyhalf Brock James admitted the French side have placed an emphasis on the European Cup this season and it paid off on Sunday as they beat Saracens to reach their first semifinal.

James, a third minute replacement for the injured David Skrela impressed in the pivitoal flyhalf role and he was delighted to drive his side into the semifinals.
 
"We have talked about the Heineken Cup a little bit more than we normally do," said James.
 
"We have decided as a group it is something we want to achieve this season. We have taken the next step to the semifinal and we have a difficult match to come against Leinster, but we will prepare as well as we can for that."

The French side managed to keep Saracens tryless in front of their home crowd and James said that their defence has become a point of pride this season.
 
He said: "We have had a good defence in the Top 14 and it something we have really prided ourselves on this season. We showed that when we didn't allow them over for a try when they were on our line in the last five minutes."

The Australian playmaker dominated the game with his boot, and he explained that Clermont has targeted territorial dominance as key to beating Saracens in the difficult conditions.
 
"With the wet conditions, we knew territory would be important, especially with their fast defence which makes it to play with the ball in hand, we thought we could put some pressure there.
 
"We needed to put some pressure on them and it was important that the points came and we just needed to be down their end of the field to make that happen. We couldn't give them a chance to play," he said.

James said that taking on the defending champions will be a massive challenge, but one that he and his teammates are looking forward to.
 
"Leinster won the competition last year and they beat us a few years ago and have had a good victory in the semifinal but we have put more importance in the Heineken Cup this season. We are keen to get stuck into them."