Pierre and Lou crunched the Toulon glutton. In a Stade Vélodrome where Rhone and Var supporters mixed in a united fresco of red and black, the Lyonnais gradually stifled the Toulonnais to end up winning (30-12) in the Challenge Cup final, Friday 27 May. Faced with experience and three Champions Cup titles – the great European cup -, in addition to being heckled by the nearly 40,000 people from Var present in the stands, Baptiste Couilloud’s teammates opposed all their hearts and good dose of panache to reverse the forecasts and win the first European title in their history.
Impressive courage to resist the onslaught of Saracens in the semi-finals, the Toulonnais seemed more physically borrowed. The Var mastodons, like Eben Etzebeth who we saw lying on the ground, trying to catch his breath after 20 minutes of play, struggled to support the acceleration attempts of their number 9, Baptist Serin. If the RCT managed to afford a few chances and even two tries (Serin, 17th and Kolbe, 74th), they mainly impaled themselves unsuccessfully on the Lyon defense, losing the ball several times on the ground.
Contrary to what the score might suggest, we cannot really say that the Lyonnais owe their victory to this pragmatism which is often the strength of experienced teams. Above all, they created many more chances, and the sanction ended up falling.
If the Lou had three tries justly refused, the players of Pierre Mignoni used their knowledge of the counter to score three other valid ones (Couilloud 8th, penalty try 46th, Barassi 48th). Thanks to their explosiveness, their ability to bring the ball to life, they managed to ignite this spark which allowed them to change the game in a few minutes. A tour de force that is a signature feature this season. Facing the poles, Leo Berdeu (13 points) was responsible for confirming the decision.
They thus offer, for sure, the hoped-for exit to their native coach from Toulon, Pierre Mignoni, who will return to La Rade next year. Since the arrival of the former scrum half in the Rhône, Lyon has changed in dimension, pulling out of Pro D2 to play the leading roles in the Top 14, without ever succeeding in winning a title. It is now done. If the maestro leaves, he will not leave without having instilled in this club and its young guns a culture of winning. And since some say that appetite comes with eating…
For its part, the RCT, which has been experiencing a real renaissance for a few weeks after having languished in the depths of the championship for a long time, will have to quickly switch, because it can go to the final stages of the Top 14 in the event of a victory against Racing 92 during the last day.