Lyon
Vannes
B. Couilloud (14'), T. Millet (26'), J. Wainiqolo (47'), A. Deliance (51'), G. Lorre (58'), C. Chat (61'), I. Masi (76'), I. Baleiwairiki (79')
Tries
T. Beziat (10'), R. Nu'u (19'), N. Hulleu (55')
M. Meliande (15', 52', 62', 79')
Conversions
N. Roger (11', 19')
Penalties
N. Roger (40+1', 42')
This was confirmation that Lyon now have a fifth-gear they can hit when the game loosens and the bench is on. For an hour they were second to the rhythm and the scoreboard; in the last quarter they were ruthless. The shift wasn’t mystical. It was ruck speed, punch from the finishers, and strike runners who suddenly found front-foot ball.
It also told us something harsher about RC Vannes. They can own long spells, even away, but without an edge in the red zone and with a defence that can’t live with tempo late on, they’ll leave with nothing. They led for long stretches and still shipped 12 unanswered points in the final 10 minutes. Control isn’t the same as control of the scoreboard.
The numbers back the feel of it. Lyon’s ruck ball averaged around 1.4 seconds to Vannes’ 2.2, and they cashed their 22 entries at roughly four points a visit. Vannes were nearer 2.4. That’s the difference between pressure and points, and it’s why a tight contest turned into a 48–25 margin.
Match Stats
CARRIES
CLEAN BREAK
DEFENDER BEATEN
TACKLE
MISSED TACKLE
TURNOVER WON
TURNOVERS CONCEDED
PENALTY CONCEDED
YELLOW CARD
POSSESSION
SCRUMS
LINEOUTS
Vannes’ plan worked for a long time. With Clovis Le Bail feeding short options and Nicolas Roger kicking smartly either side of the break, they controlled pace and field position. Raymond Nu’u and Nathanael Hulleu both found the gain line with direct lines and good angles, and the visitors actually won more rucks on the day. But their entries didn’t bite, and each time they looked set to stretch away, Lyon’s scramble — anchored by Guillaume Marchand’s 18 tackles and Beka Saginadze’s work rate — stalled them just enough.
The contest pivoted around the hour, and it was a mix of discipline and dynamism. Vannes lost prop Wayan De Benedittis to the bin on 60 minutes. A minute later Camille Chat, just on, went through heavy traffic to score. That sequence said everything about both sides: Vannes blinked; Lyon’s bench brought force and speed at precisely the right moment. From there, the hosts played almost exclusively on the front foot. Earlier sparks had hinted at it — Jiuta Wainiqolo slicing through just after half time, Antoine Deliance hitting a hard line to finish phase pressure — but Chat’s try unlocked the flood.
With quicker ball, Lyon’s strike men stopped running into sets and started running at shoulders. Gabin Lorre had been a constant outlet at the back all afternoon, and once the tempo rose his 18 carries and three clean breaks bent Vannes’ backfield into poor pictures. Martin Meliande took the ball to the line, beat defenders and picked runners; the difference in decision speed at first receiver after the hour was stark. When Iosefo Masi stepped through late and the final score followed in the 79th minute, it reflected how far the game had tilted, not a freak flourish.
If you’re looking for where the scoreboard blew out, start with missed tackles and fatigue. Vannes missed 22 tackles to Lyon’s 14 and conceded those final two tries with their line fractured and the retreat never arrested. The yellow at 60’ hurt, but it was the cumulative effect of Lyon’s pace around the corner — Marchand and Chat getting set, carriers like Jérôme Rey coming on and winning collisions — that emptied the tank. Vannes’ earlier patience became slow ball, their shape lost rails, and those red-zone visits kept ending in threes or nothing.
There’s credit due in Lyon’s pack beyond the highlights. Marchand delivered a flawless throwing day and a defensive shift that kept them in range when they were being asked to tackle. Deliance was excellent on both sides of the ball, and Saginadze’s linking gave Meliande the platform he wanted. Lorre didn’t need two tries to be the game’s most persistent carrier; his metres forced Vannes to defend wider and earlier, which opened inside shoulders for Masi and Wainiqolo.
Vannes weren’t poor for 60 minutes. Nu’u carried for real gain and threatened consistently, Roger’s boot kept the scoreboard alive, and Paul Surano returned long metres from the back. But Nu’u also fell off five tackles, and that’s symptomatic: their midfield defence wasn’t tight enough when Lyon sped up. The set piece largely held, yet without sharper cleanouts and quicker presentation, they couldn’t turn long multi-phase sequences into tries when they needed to change the tone.
Does the margin flatter Lyon? A little, in that Vannes had the game in a decent place until 58–62 minutes. But the surge was earned, not gifted. The only caveat for the hosts is discipline; they leaked enough penalties in patches — and survived a first-half yellow to Opeti Helu — that a heavyweight would have punished. The template, though, is clear: keep the ball quick, trust the bench, and let your finishers go to work.
Vannes leave with a hard lesson that matters in their fight down the table: an hour’s control won’t save you if you can’t defend tempo on 70 and if your 22 entries don’t yield tries. Lyon, meanwhile, bank back-to-back league wins and, more importantly, a style that travels. Keep the ruck speed where it was after the hour, and they’ll trouble better sides than Vannes.