The first half was half fig, half grape. If Brive scored points on all his attempts to incursion into the Lyon camp, it must be said that they were few. Lyon dominated the game, punishing the Brivists as during this test by Toby Arnold, just after returning to 10-10 (36th), which allows LOU to lead in the score when returning to the locker room (17-13) . The other bad news of this first half is the injury exit of Setareki Bituniyata, replaced by Tuicuvu (13th).
In the second half, rebelote. The same Lyon domination, the same Brive indiscipline. And a few twists of fate with this try-cap by Joël Kpoko (53rd). Returning to 4 points, Brive finally gives in once again to the Lyon assaults, until this last action: this carried ball which seals a penalty try allowing the defensive bonus.
Coach Jérémy Davidson “very disappointed” by the defeat
CAB coach Jeremy Davidson said he was very disappointed at the end of the match. “We were imprecise in the strong moments. In the first period, we gave too many opportunities to Lyon, which was very strong in attacking animation. We give penalties that allow them to play with us. In the second half, we failed to capitalize on our strong moments. I’m happy with the state of mind of the players who wanted to fight until the end but it didn’t work and the victory is not there.” This defensive bonus point is as Paul Abadie says “little consolation”.
Bituniyata wounded in the shoulder
In a post-match press conference, Jeremy Davidson gave an update on injuries: Daniel Brennan suffered a calf injury in the second half. Fijian winger Setareki Bituniyata is badly injured in the right shoulder, which is dislocated. Several other players suffered. “It hit hard” confirmed Paul Abadie at the end of the game.