Reputations are enhanced as Lyon are run very close
THE history books will mark it down as a 19-13 defeat, and so it was, but anyone who witnessed the heroics from Gloucester’s secondstring side at Lyon will come away thinking each and every one of the English club’s players are winners.
A number of reputations were greatly enhanced at the Stade de Gerland as the Cherry and Whites went toe-to-toe with a star-studded Lyon side, who are established heavyweights of the French Top 14, to be narrowly beaten and come away with a losing bonus point.
But right into the 80th minute, Gloucester had a chance at victory in their opening game in the European Challenge Cup, which is some feat considering they were spanked 55-10 by the same side almost exactly 12 months ago.
That is how far the club has come in the past year and why there is an increasingly loud buzz of excitement around Kingsholm,.
In a contest that was far from pretty, in fact downright ugly at times, it was Gloucester’s scrum that kept them in the match for so long with Fraser Balmain, Santiago Socino and Jamal Fordrobinson having a storming night in the frontrow to remind everyone at the club of their abilities to be game-winners.
The lineout and maul, which has been the English side’s super strength this season, faltered for once and the Cherry and Whites were overkeen to kick away possession, but head coach George Skivington’s tactics of keeping Lyon in their own half largely worked, soaking up the pressure from the hosts and winning and scoring penalties when in range.
After 45 minutes the scores were locked at 6-6, but moments later Lyon kicked to the corner and powered over with a maul to score through their captain Jordan Taufua - the former Leicester Tigers number eight.
Former French international scrumhalf Jean-marc Doussain added the extras for an eight-point personal haul and with the crowd now coming to life the hosts looked invigorated. But Gloucester, like the gnarly underdogs they were going into the match, would not be shaken off and would not go away.
An additional penalty from replacement Lyon scrum-half Jonathan Pelissie made it 16-6 and the hosts risked pulling away, but Gloucester hit back from the restart with Santiago Carreras taking the dropkick before linking up with flanker Harry Taylor who in turn found replacement lock Cameron Jordan for a strong, powerful finish, wrestling off internationals in the red and black of the home side to touch the ball down.
Billy Twelvetrees added the extras for eight points from the boot without missing and Gloucester, now at 16-13, chased a winning score.
Pelissie added another penalty to open up the gap but in the last minute of the match number eight colossus Jack Clement, still just 20 years old, broke away to get his side into the Lyon 22, only to see George Barton caught in a choke tackle and turned over. That was the game.
It was another moment of almost but not quite, but my word don’t Gloucester have now have serious competition for every position on the pitch and look to have channeled that Exeter-esque quality of being a side that is better than the sum of its parts and tough to beat no matter who is selected.
Skivington’s side host Italian side Benetton at Kingsholm on Friday.
Lyon OU: 15. Toby Arnold, 14. Ethan Dumortier, 13. Pierre-louis Barassi, 12. Charlie Ngatai, 11. Davit Niniashvili, 10. Lima Sopoaga, 9. Jean-marc Doussain, 1. Sebastien Taofifenua, 2. Guillaume Marchand, 3. Demba Bamba, 4. Killian Geraci, 5. Romain Taofifenua, 6. Felix Lambey, 7. Beka Saginadze, 8. Jordan Taufua (c). Replacements: 16. Yanis Charcosset, 17. Vivien Devisme, 18. Hamza Kaabeche, 19. Temo Mayanavanua, 20. Colby Fainga’a, 21. Jonathan Pelissie, 22. Thibaut Regard, 23. Clement Laporte, Gloucester Rugby: 15. Kyle Moyle, 14. Santiago Carreras, 13. Giorgi Kveseladze, 12. Billy Twelvetrees (c), 11. Alex Morgan, 10. George Barton, 9. Steve Varney, 1. Jamal Ford-robinson, 2. Santi Socino, 3. Fraser Balmain, 4. Andrew Davidson, 5. Arthur Clark, 6. Freddie Thomas, 7. Harry Taylor, 8. Jack Clement. Replacements: 16. Henry Walker, 17. Ciaran Knight, 18. Bryan O’connor, 19. Cameron Jordan, 20. Wian Conradie, 21. Charlie Chapman, 22. Tom Seabrook, 23. Jacob Morris