Tops
He did not register a test this Saturday but he shone on the lawn of the Vélodrome. First against the poles, where he only missed one attempt, but also in the game where he perfectly fulfilled his role as organizer and detonator. Like the action on Barassi’s try where his low kick perfectly finds the 3/4 center to definitely widen the gap (48th). Defensively, he was not stingy either. He even receives a yellow card shortly after the hour mark (63rd) but the games were already almost done.
He is also the one who received the title of man of the match at the end of the game. This Saturday, Baptiste Couilloud capsized the Vélodrome for the first time after 50 seconds of play before his try was finally canceled. No problem for the Lyon scrum half who put the cover back a few minutes later on a good serve from Taufua (8th). He is also the initiator of the action which leads to Niniashvili’s essay, which was also refused. Defensively, he even closed a few gaps like this perfect cover in front of Aymeric Luc on a low kick signed Carbonel (68th). His only fault in this encounter? He is slightly behind Kolbe’s race for the latter’s test (74th). Too little to tarnish a capital performance.
Heroic might we even say. It is above all through this game sector that the Rhodaniens have built their success in the evening. From the first period, Pierre Mignoni’s men left little space for their opponent. But what about the second act where the Lyonnais perfectly resisted the many highlights of Toulon. Without firing a shot, they repelled one by one the Var offensives which multiplied the playing time in the opposing camp without scoring a single point.
Flops
This is the corollary of the previous point. If the Rhone defense proved to be unstoppable, Franck Azéma’s men still lacked ideas and above all the accuracy to make it falter. Like Gigashvili, author of a damaging forward two meters from the in-goal when he only had to flatten (63rd). Same penalty for Facundo Isa, two minutes later who rushes to play a penalty. An opposing defense in a state of grace yes, but far too much technical waste on the RCT side to hope for a more favorable outcome.
The 38-year-old experienced Italian will certainly not have great memories of this final. He is even directly at fault on Couilloud’s first try by returning the ball to the opponent on a missed pass to the outside (8th). Very often beaten in the rucks, he did not show his usual power and scratched too few balls. The transalpine colossus did not score in the 54th European match of his career.
The South African star of the RCT hardly weighed on this meeting. Without real interesting situations to put in their mouths, he went through a good part of the match like a ghost and was never able to make his devastating runs speak. His try at the end of the match (74th) did not change anything at the end of the game since the Lyonnais were already leading by 23 points on the scoreboard. The 2019 world champion did not really hold his rank this Saturday at the Vélodrome.
