LOU Rugby must leave Marseille with a crown. Pierre Mignoni’s men shoot their penultimate card this Friday, May 27 against the RCT. From the kick-off (9 p.m.), the Lyonnais must attack the Toulon in-goal to avoid chasing the score, as has been too often the case this season (led at mid- time of his last 3 matches). Because the stakes are high for the LOU. Eighth in the Top 14, and condemned to a feat against La Rochelle to reach the finals (5 points needed), the Rhodanians are betting almost everything on this Challenge Cup final. The first in their history.
Before this Friday’s final, the Lyonnais do not want to put unnecessary pressure on themselves. Already, happy to be there, Pierre Mignoni’s players simply want to “take one more step in this competition”, recalled the LOU coach in an exchange with the press. The group lives well and does not seem affected by the heavy defeat against Bordeaux-Bègles last week. “I spent many years in Lyon, and I have never had such a good feeling as with this year’s team,” says Toby Arnold, full-back and winger for LOU.
The Lyonnais therefore seem happy like a child and solid like a young man, but beware their defense can prove to be fragile like an old man…
The biggest fault of the Lyonnais this season is consistency. The LOU chained two big series of consecutive successes, 6 in January and 5 in April/May, before constantly falling back into its failings. But on the side of Lyon, we do not speak the same language when we play everything on a meeting. For this, the match against Wasps in the semi-finals of this Challenge Cup is a reference.
Thanks to a good reaction in the second half and a Berdeu on fire, the Lyonnais had managed to reverse the trend to win on the wire 20 to 18. Dylan Cretin is also aware of this, we will have to be in a big day this friday. “We have to base ourselves on what we do well, and we will have to do it very well. We want to show a different face than that of last week, ”confided the 3rd international line at a press conference.
Facing Toulon, the LOU will be able to count on their magic trio this season. Léo Berdeu (opening half), always good when he is on the pitch (6 tries and 306 points scored in 31 matches this season), is the key point of Lyon’s success. Just like Baptiste Couilloud (scrum half), often there in the big meetings, who had already been decisive by scoring a try against Glasgow in the quarter-finals of this Challenge Cup.
Patrick Sobéla is also a key point in Pierre Mignoni’s XV. The quiet strength of Lyon’s third line is never a trivial contribution to the successes gleaned by his team this season (12 wins for 17 matches played).
“You don’t have to dramatize anything. It’s an event that is fabulous to experience […] I’m not focused on winning, I’m focused on ”how to win, mobilize people and be precise in everyone’s head so that everyone is 100 %”. That’s the goal, ”insisted Pierre Mignoni at a press conference on Tuesday.
Faced with a confident Toulon (only 2 defeats in their last 10 matches), the LOU will have to sublimate themselves to try to erase their imperfections. This Friday evening, the Lyonnais will try to win the first European Cup in its history, and make its supporters forget the disappointment of the championship. A last opportunity, perhaps, for Pierre Mignoni to shine before flying off to a new adventure at the RCT.
