Nick Abendanon© Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images

"It's hot, it's boiling, it's Montferrand" read a banner inside Stade Marcel-Michelin; how wonderfully apt. This quarter-final was as chastening for Northampton as it was euphoric for Clermont and at the centre of it was the forgotten English fullback.

Just as Northampton put together their best attack of the game - it took 54 minutes - Abendanon snuffled up a loose ball and went 90 metres to go under the posts. His celebration of a twizzling finger to the cheek is a salute to the game spoof and his family in Bath and South Africa but he is now flourishing in France. The game was already dead and buried by then - in the end it finished 37-5 - but once again the Marcel-Michelin crowd rose to salute a new favourite.

As the spotlight grows ever brighter on World Cup selection, players inevitably flounder or flourish under the pressure. There is little chance of the wonderful Abendanon featuring in the England squad - he did not get a look in under Stuart Lancaster when he was running out at Bath - but as he carves out his life in France, he is slowly becoming to Clermont what Wilkinson was to Toulon: an Englishman adopted and treasured as one of their own.

Even the ever-vigilant Tom Wood was left flat-footed by the two-cap England fullback as he danced, pirouetted and cut to pieces the Northampton defence for Clermont's third try. Northampton's struggles against French teams in the pool stages - they lost home and away to Racing Metro - was exposed in glorious yellow and blue Technicolor. But this is a battle won, not the war.

Last year Clermont were left holding their collective heads in stunned têtes as Saracens put together a performance in the semi-final of the Heineken Cup to beat Les Jaunards 46-6. But this year, Clermont have shown they can mix beauty with beast. As the Gods of the pool draws dictated, Clermont were up against Saracens first this time around in the new lick of paint Champions Cup. Saracens beat them 30-23 as Clermont found their feet in the post-Vern Cotter era. As the pool group progressed, they used the trebuchet against Munster as their physicality powered them to a 16-9 win and a more expansive style against Sale to see them off 35-3.

Come the quarter-finals and under the rain, Clermont married physicality and deft footwork as they put in the best first-half seen in the tournament, surpassing Glasgow's thrashing of Bath.

Jonathan Davies© Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images

It was 40 minutes of sheer brutality, it was as vivid shellacking of a premier English team as you will see. This wasn't your two bob team Clermont were vaporising, they are the English champions.

In Abendanon they have a fullback who loves countering from deep, as we saw during his time at Bath, but with quality runners like Noa Nakaitaci, Napolioni Nalaga, Jonathan Davies and Wesley Fofana on his shoulder, he has options. He played a key role in their attacking play and the Saints' missed tackling count of 17 in the first-half showed how evasive the Clermont runners were. The pack were also at their bulldozing excellence and the 27-0 half-time score was neither flattering nor lucky. Inevitably when you have that advantage, they have the luxury of being able to slow down but they still added another 10 points in the second-half.

Up next for Clermont? Either Racing Metro or Saracens. Some of those in Clermont will still wear the wounds of their hammering at Twickenham. If they fall short of their optimum level, they will be knocked off their perch. They will also be mindful last year of how Sarries played their final a game earlier in the semi-final. It is about getting the running and walking in the right order.

That's for later in April. If Clermont are to be the first team to lift the Champions Cup, they will still have two games to go. They look the most complete package left in the tournament but as they did when they won their first Top 14 title in 2010 having lost their previous 10 finals, they will use previous heartbreak as motivation.

For tonight, Clermont will be doused in glorious yellow and blue; Northampton will head home, licking their wounds, while Les Jaunards go marching into the semi-finals.