Saints' stellar first-half stuns Lyon
MATCH REPORT: Northampton Saints’ fine first-half display was enough to secure a 25-14 victory over Lyon in the opening match in Champions Cup Pool 1.
Dan Biggar struck four first-half penalties and converted a superb try by Rory Hutchinson to give Saints a 19-0 lead at half time. The second half proved trickier for the hosts, but they sustained plenty of French pressure until two tries for Thibault Regard, which came too late to change the result.
Biggar’s first contribution came after two minutes following a Lyon offence at the breakdown and he slotted another penalty after nine minutes following a messy Lyon lineout.
On 25 minutes came a sizzling try for the hosts with fine work by the forwards, then a lovely quick offload by Biggar opening up a miniscule gap which Hutchinson burst through to touch down after being half-tackled by two defenders.
Five minutes later a forward pass ruled out another delightful Saints team try but Biggar kept the scoreboard ticking with two further penalties before the break.
He soon added his fifth two minutes after half time but Lyon exerted tremendous pressure which was rewarded on the hour when – with Teimana Harrison in the sin-bin for Saints – Regard touched down and Jonathan Wisniewski converted.
Biggar’s sixth penalty gave Northampton a bit more breathing space, meaning Lyon’s second try in the dying seconds, also by Regard, made no difference to the outcome.
The scorers:
For Northampton Saints:
Try: Hutchinson
Con: Biggar
Pens: Biggar 6
For Lyon:
Tries: Regard 2
Cons: Wisniewski 2
Yellow card: Teimana Harrison (Northampton Saints, 59)
The teams:
Northampton Saints: 15 George Furbank, 14 Tom Collins, 13 Rory Hutchinson, 12 Piers Francis, 11 Taqele Naiyaravoro, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Cobus Reinach, 8 Teimana Harrison, 7 Lewis Ludlam, 6 Tom Wood, 5 Courtney Lawes, 4 David Ribbans, 3 Ehren Painter, 2 Mikey Haywood, 1 Alex Waller (captain)
Replacements: 16 James Fish, 17 Francois van Wyk, 18 Owen Franks, 19 Api Ratuniyarawa, 20 Jamie Gibson, 21 James Mitchell, 22 Matt Proctor, 23 Ahsee Tuala
Lyon: 15 Jean-Marcellin Buttin, 14 Josua Tuisova, 13 Pierre-Louis Barassi, 12 Charlie Ngatai, 11 Noa Nakaitaci, 10 Pato Fernandez, 9 Jonathan Pélissié (captain), 8 Carl Fearns, 7 Patrick Sobela, 6 Liam Gill, 5 Loann Goujon, 4 Killian Geraci, 3 Clément Ric, 2 Jeremie Maurouard, 1 Raphael Chaume
Replacements: 16 Mickael Ivaldi, 17 Hamza Kaabèche, 18 Demba Bamba, 19 Hendrik Roodt, 20 Virgile Bruni, 21 Baptiste Couilloud, 22 Jonathan Wisniewski, 23 Thibaut Regard
Referee: Frank Murphy (Ireland)
Assistant referees: George Clancy (Ireland), Robert O’Sullivan (Ireland)
TMO: Olly Hodges (Ireland)
Source: @ChampionsCup