Lane burns off criticism to help Blues end on high

OWEN Lane brought the Arms Park crowd to its feet with the pick of his side’s five tries and got his coach salivating over his future.

John Mulvihill had taken his young wing to task last week after his performance in Glasgow and even suggested to him he might have lost a yard of speed.

His words obviously hit home as he proved he has pace to burn as he breezed past former French wing Alexis Palisson to score his sensational try.

“I had a go at him last week and asked him if he’d lost a yard of pace because he didn’t go around their winger. I think that burnt him all week,” said Mulvihill.

“I was waiting for some kind of gesture from him after that try. He said he thought about it, but didn’t think it was the right forum.

“When he scored I just said to myself ‘there’s an international wing right there’. Owen hadn’t played enough rugby to be included in the Six Nations squad, but if there are any injuries then he will be ready.”

Lane’s score put the Blues back in front four minutes into the second half and ensured they ended their first Champions Cup campaign in five years on a high.

It was their first home win in Pool 3 and their ninth European triumph in a row over French opposition.

The visitors scored first when their powerful scrum convinced English referee Karl Dickson to award them a penalty try after three mighty shoves at successive set-pieces. The Blues responded by creating a brace of tries for left wing Aled Summerhill.

It was a break from the highly promising young centre Harri Millard that paved the way for the first and then a great run across field by Jarrod Evans created the space for the second.

Giant Lyon wing Xavier Mignot helped to return a Blues clearance with interest as he galloped 30 metres to score a corner try that Palisson converted to make it 14-12 to the visitors at the break.

Their lead didn’t last long into the second half as Lane raced in from half-way after a miraculous off-load from Tomos Williams.

The Wales scrum-half then took an inside pass from Josh Navidi to run the length of the 22 to notch another before his replacement, Lewis Jones, marked his 100th regional appearance with his side’s fifth try.