Bayonne Secures Narrow Victory Over Scarlets with Late Penalty

Scarlets, who reached the semi-finals of the Challenge Cup in 2023, were denied an opening-round win in the European Challenge Cup by a late penalty from Bayonne. The final score in European Challenge Cup: Pool 3 was Bayonne (14) 17, Scarlets (13) 16. Bayonne’s points came from tries by Bruni and Lopez, two conversions by Lopez, and a penalty by Segonds. Scarlets’ points included a try by Evans, a conversion by Lloyd, and three penalties by Lloyd. Ioan Lloyd had put the visiting Scarlets ahead for the first time in the match during the 74th minute at the wet and windswept Stade Jean Dauger. However, Italian referee Gianluca Gnecchi reversed a penalty decision shortly after, following Archer Holtz’s reaction to foul play, which allowed replacement fly-half Joris Segonds to successfully kick the winning points. This decision was particularly harsh on Australian prop Holtz, who had otherwise delivered an impressive performance on his club debut, including a crucial try-saving tackle. It was even more disappointing for Scarlets, who were on the verge of securing only their second victory in France in the last ten years. Up to that point, Scarlets had demonstrated exceptional defence, discipline, and determination, keeping the scoreline to a one-point difference. Bayonne, currently fifth in the Top 14, saw Rodrigo Bruni and Camille Lopez score tries and had dominated the first half of the game. Despite their dominance, the home side, Bayonne, exhibited moments of over-confidence, as Vaea Fifita, Ellis Mee, Tom Rogers, and Holtz each individually prevented Bayonne players from grounding the ball over the try line. Scarlets gradually narrowed the deficit through Ioan Lloyd’s successful kicks, before hooker Shaun Evans scored a try just before half-time. Vaea Fifita made critical line-out steals in the second half, which remained scoreless until the dramatic conclusion. Lloyd’s kick had given Scarlets the lead, but Bayonne subsequently charged down replacement fly-half Charlie Titcombe’s kick from the restart. Scarlets narrowly avoided conceding a try due to an offside call but ultimately paid the price for Holtz’s delayed reaction. Bayonne assistant coach Nick Abendanon commented: “We started well with the two tries but we didn’t control things well to keep them under pressure. We got into the score zone so many times and didn’t convert those chances and let them back into the game. We got a bit lucky with the late penalty but we’re happy with the win.” Scarlets head coach Dwayne Peel expressed his frustration, stating: “That’s a second week in a row that we’ve had that frustration at the end. It was a huge effort and we got ourselves ahead so it’s really disappointing to give away that late penalty. A bonus point could be important at the end of the pool stage but we know it should have been a lot more.” Bayonne: Cheikh Tiberghien; Nadir Megdoud, Guillaume Martocq, Manu Tuilagi, Mateo Carreras; Camille Lopez (capt), Guillaume Rouet; Martin Villar, Lucas Martin, Pieter Scholtz, Denis Marchois, Veikoso Poloniati, Rodrigo Bruni, Baptiste Heguy, Uzair Cassiem. Replacements: Torsten van Jaarsveld, Andy Bordelai, Pascal Cotet, Baptiste Chouzenoux, Giovanni Habel-Kuffner, Baptiste Germain, Joris Segonds, Tom Spring. Scarlets: Ioan Nicholas; Tom Rogers, Joe Roberts, Eddie James, Ellis Mee; Ioan Lloyd, Efan Jones; Kemsley Mathias, Shaun Evans, Sam Wainwright, Alex Craig (capt), Jac Price, Jarrod Taylor, Dan Davis, Vaea Fifita. Replacements: Isaac Young, Sam O’Connor, Archer Holz, Sam Lousi, Max Douglas, Archie Hughes, Charlie Titcombe, Macs Page. Referee: Gianluca Gnecchi (FIR). Assistant referees: Franco Rosella & Alex Frasson (Ita) (WRU). TMO: Stefano Roscini (FIR).