Lyon (AFP)
The three-week break did not break the momentum of the LOU: Lyon won its eighth win (45-17), with the bonus offensive on Sunday against La Rochelle, on the ninth day of the Top 14.
By the way, the Lyon have (a little) forgotten their only defeat since the beginning of the season, in Clermont (24-15) on October 20 just before the "truce" observed at the end of the World Cup. And they have again refueled at home, registering five tries.
Conversely, the Rochelais, imperial home, are still looking for a success on the outside, where they have taken only one defensive bonus point in five games.
The return of the internationals (the Fijian Levani Botia, Geoffrey Doumayrou or Grégory Alldritt) has not changed anything: the "Yellow and Black" have made too many small mistakes to hope to compete, despite a convincing start to the match, concretized by a test of Priso (6th).
On the Lyonnais side, the right-hand man Demba Bamba, who started for Gerland for the first time since arriving from Brive, signed a convincing performance. But it was especially the Fijian winger Josua Tuisova who made the best impression. His power and his accelerations were fatal to Rochelais. Decisive on the second attempt of Baptiste Couilloud (43rd), he distinguished himself by a gesture of high class. When he had only to flatten, he offered the test to his center, Charlie Ngatai (52).
For his last match in Lyon before his departure for the United States, Mathieu Bastareaud was also in view, before going out under a standing ovation of the Lyon public (57th).
He was one of the men of the match, with the opener Jonathan Wisniewski, a wise and precise guide against the poles (18 points) and especially Couilloud. Author of two tries, the scrum half of Lyons advance his candidacy, while the new staff of the XV of France is about to take office ...
© 2019 AFP