Lyon Secures Victory Over Cardiff After Welsh Side Relinquishes Lead Twice

Lyon’s triumph marked the third consecutive victory for French teams against Welsh opposition in the opening round of the European Challenge Cup. European Challenge Cup: Pool 1 Lyon (17) 37 Tries: Dumortier 2, Parisien, Charcosset, Gonzalez Cons: Meliande 3 Pens: Meliande, Gonzalez Cardiff (14) 26 Tries: Adams, Southworth, Bevan, Hamer-Webb Cons: De Beer 2, Sheedy Cardiff relinquished their advantage on two occasions as they were narrowly defeated by Lyon in the European Challenge Cup. Josh Adams and Danny Southworth established a 14-5 lead for the visiting team within the first 15 minutes at Stade Matmut de Gerland. However, Ethan Dumortier, with two tries, along with Alfred Parisien and Yanis Charcosset, all scored for Lyon, securing a bonus point. Ellis Bevan and Gabriel Hamer-Webb scored again for Cardiff, putting them ahead for a second time during the second half. Nevertheless, an unsuccessful restart allowed Esteban Gonzalez to cross the line, before Lyon sealed their win with penalties late in the game. Cardiff, two-time cup champions, who had made 11 changes from their previous league fixture, gained a bonus point as a consolation, while Lyon, experiencing difficulties in the Top 14, ended a five-game losing streak. Steffan Emanuel became Cardiff’s youngest player to participate in Europe, at 18 years and 159 days old, making an impressive debut by setting up the initial score. The young centre provided Adams with an easy opportunity to score his first Cardiff try in a year, occurring just four minutes into the match. Even after Lyon quickly responded with Dumortier’s individual try, Cardiff extended their lead further when prop Danny Southworth powered over the try line. Dan Thomas prevented a score, but Georgia full-back Davit Niniashvili evaded Hamer-Webb, enabling Parisien to reduce the deficit. However, Lyon’s driving maul progressively gained dominance, leading to Dumortier’s second try just before half-time, followed by hooker Charcosset completing another drive to secure the bonus point. A significantly altered Cardiff squad showed resilience, and after Emanuel was held up following an interception, Bevan sprinted between the posts. A breakthrough by Rey Lee-Lo, the sole remaining player from their last victory in France against Lyon in 2018, did not result in a score. But Harri Millard’s surge culminated in fellow wing Hamer-Webb scoring in the opposite corner, establishing a 26-24 lead. Sheedy missed the subsequent conversion, and mere seconds later, Lyon’s players outjumped Cardiff’s forwards for the kick-off, allowing scrum-half Gonzalez to slide over before the decisive late penalties. Lyon: Davit Niniashvili; Ethan Dumortier, Alfred Parisien, Josiah Maraku, Vincent Rattez; Martin Meliande, Charlie Cassang; Hamza Kaabeche, Yanis Charcosset, Cedate Gomes Sa, Killian Geraci, Alban Roussel, Dylan Cretin (capt), Marvin Okuya, Maxime Gouzou. Replacements: Baptiste Narmand, Jérôme Rey, Jermaine Ainsley, Arno Botha, Beka Shvangiradze, Esteban Gonzalez, Alexandre Tchaptchet, Thibaut Regard. Cardiff: Jacob Beetham; Josh Adams, Rey Lee-Lo, Steffan Emanuel, Gabriel Hamer-Webb; Tinus de Beer, Ellis Bevan; Danny Southworth, Evan Lloyd, Rhys Litterick, Seb Davies, Teddy Williams (Capt), Alex Mann, Dan Thomas, Alun Lawrence. Replacements: Daf Hughes, Rhys Barratt, Will Davies-King, Josh McNally, Thomas Young, Johan Mulder, Callum Sheedy, Harri Millard. Referee: Hollie Davidson (SRU). Assistant referees: Jonny Perriam & Rob McDowell (SRU). TMO: Mike Adamson (SRU).