And at the end of the suspense, Baptiste Couilloud gives victory to LOU (37-35) and stuns Racing. The international scrum-half concludes an 80-meter action two minutes from time. A blow for the Ile-de-France residents who believed they were holding onto their success. Here they are, after four defeats in a row in the Top 14, stuck in tenth place in the standings, nine lengths behind their winner of the day (but with one match less), sixth and last qualified for the final phase. “If we put the same intensity in other matches, we will win them,” says Laurent Travers, manager of Ile-de-France. We won’t make the same mistakes, the same gifts. We did Santa Claus after the 25th! But there are a lot of positives and we can have some hope for the next thirteen games. ”
It was the last meeting before the gauges. After that, there will be fewer people on the stands. Not sure, however, that there is less atmosphere than this Sunday evening at the end of the holiday season at the Gerland stadium. The Lyon audience seemed so sleepy that the voices of the players echoed as if they had played behind closed doors.
It is true that on the ground, the spectacle did not reach summits. How could it be otherwise? At kickoff, the Racingmen, affected by the Covid-19 last week, come out of three weeks without competition and did not resume training until Tuesday evening. They lack executives like Fickou, Thomas or Beale. The Lyonnais, them, can not keep the rank to which they are promised. Too inconstant, too imprecise, they bear no resemblance to the surgical rigor of their manager Pierre Mignoni.
The Ciel et Blancs quickly sensed the right thing, they who have been floundering since the start of the season in a Top 14 which seems to be unfolding without them. They have, in any case, responded tit for tat. Action reaction. A scenario summarized in two movements, at the very start of the match. After one minute and forty-two seconds of play, the Lyon opener Léo Berdeu (author of 27 points, season record in Top 14) finds himself under the posts of Ile-de-France. Four minutes later, it was the turn of sky and white winger Juan Imhoff to flatten behind the line after a relay from Virimi Vakatawa on an opening at the foot of Antoine Gibert.
The rest ? A ping-pong, a crossover over a confused match that ultimately turned in favor of Lyon. “We gave them a lot of points, admits scrum half Maxime Machenaud. There are individual errors, with missed tackles. We put a lot of energy into this game, without being rewarded. We put a lot of effort into winning it. We are aware of our position in the standings … Every point counts. “Racing will not be able to afford to leave it on the way against Clermont next Saturday, at home in Paris La Défense Arena, at the risk of saying goodbye to the final phase for good. Which would be a first since its accession to the Top 14 in 2009.