Lyon (AFP)
Lyon ended a series of two consecutive defeats by winning with difficulty Wednesday at the Gerland stadium at the expense of Montpellier (24-20), defeated for the first of Philippe Saint-André, in a late match of the seventh day of Top 14.
The Lyonnais are fifth in the standings (34 points) while the Héraultais remain 13th with 18 points.
For his first match at the head of Montpellier, the former coach of the XV of France, Philippe Saint-André, who replaced Xavier Garbajosa this week, thus began his mission with a logical and frustrating defeat.
The disappointment is not mitigated by taking the defensive bonus point.
In a week of three matches, the two teams presented themselves with a very changed starting fifteen compared to the last weekend (twelve changes in Lyon, fourteen in Montpellier).
The Lyonnais took advantage of a numerical superiority after the yellow card inflicted on flanker Samuel Maximin (4th) to score a first try by the opener and captain, Jean-Marc Doussain (7-0. 6th).
Largely in the lead at the break (21-7), they could think of the offensive bonus.
But they fell back into their last matches and trembled until the end, with only one penalty registered in the second period, by Léo Berdeu (24-17. 59th).
They came up against a good opposing defense, like this interception of Louis Picamoles (63rd), while the path of the test was open for the Lyonnais.
A try by winger Vincent Martin (44th), upon returning from the locker room, reshuffled the cards.
The visitors then took advantage of the opposing feverishness to stay in the game until the end thanks to a new penalty from Benoît Paillaugue (20-24, 69th).
But they did not know how to catch up at the end of the match and left with the defensive bonus point, deserved but frustrating.
© 2021 AFP