The Lions clung on like a pack defending its line in the dying minutes, weathering a ferocious Lyon resurgence to claim a pulsating 42–33 EPCR Challenge Cup win at Ellis Park on Saturday.
It was a contest that swung like a pendulum in a storm. The Johannesburg hosts roared into a 28–14 half-time lead, playing with tempo and bite, before Lyon launched a second-half charge that threatened to trample the Lions’ European hopes. In the end, composure trumped chaos, and the home side finally notched their first win of the campaign.
The opening exchanges crackled with Test-match intensity. Lyon hammered away inside the Lions’ 22, but a vital turnover – followed by an improvised clearance from No 8 Francke Horn – flipped the field like a perfectly timed counter-ruck. From there, flyhalf Chris Smith pinned Lyon back, and after multiple phases of patient forward graft, debutant Batho Hlekani pounced on a loose ball to score. Thrown into the starting XV after a late injury, the former Junior Bok flank repaid the faith and later earned Man of the Match honours.
Lyon wasted a gilt-edged opportunity when Arthur Mathiron spilled the ball with the line begging, but their pack soon flexed its muscles. A dominant scrum forced a Lions error and winger Charly Mignot finished under the posts, Paddy Jackson’s conversion squaring the ledger.
That parity lasted only moments. The Lions shifted gears, Horn’s long pass slicing open the defence for Richard Kriel to finish out wide, before Quan Horn ghosted onto a switch line after another Kriel break to score under the posts. When Lyon loosehead Hamza Kaabeche was sin-binned for a dangerous tackle, the pressure told again, with Renzo du Plessis crashing over for the bonus-point try to make it 28–7.
Lyon, though, refused to fold. Alexandre Tchaptchet struck before the break, and scrumhalf Esteban Gonzalez sniped over early in the second half as the visitors surged back into the contest.
Just as the momentum threatened to tip, Morne van den Berg delivered a moment of Springbok class, threading a pinpoint kick for Angelo Davids to collect and finish with ice-cold precision. Yet Lyon kept coming, scoring through Mathis Sarragallet off a maul and then Alfred Parisien after a favourable bounce, Jackson’s conversion dragging them to within two points at 35–33 with five minutes to play.
In the cauldron of the closing stages, the Lions held their nerve. Consecutive Lyon penalties handed back territory, and replacement hooker Morne Brandon muscled his way over from close range with a tap-and-go to finally put the game to bed.
It was not perfect, but it was resilient – a win forged through ambition, scars and steel. Next week, the Lions head to France to face Perpignan, while Lyon host Benetton at the Matmut Stadium de Gerland.
Scorers
Lions: Tries – Batho Hlekani, Richard Kriel, Quan Horn, Renzo du Plessis, Angelo Davids, Morne Brandon. Conversions – Chris Smith (6).
Lyon: Tries – Charly Mignot, Alexandre Tchaptchet, Esteban Gonzalez, Mathis Sarragallet, Alfred Parisien. Conversions – Paddy Jackson (4).
