The context
The Lou wants to replay a CUP challenge final
Suffering at the end of the fall, the Lou is still in the qualification race in Top 14 and will play a semi-final of Challenge Cup against Racing. It is a small miracle that must already be enjoyed at its fair value. But the Lyonnais have yet won anything. And for their season to be successful, they will still have to multiply the exploits, starting this Sunday against Racing.
All Lou players admit: they come back from afar. Admittedly, “the route was tortuous to get there,” said Captain Lyonnais. But they now know where to go and how to get there to make this dream night dream come true. And all want to relive the emotions provided by the 2022 epic in a CUP challenge ended in apotheosis at the Marseille Vélodrome stadium against Toulon.
To replay a CUP challenge final against Bath, Friday, May 23 in Cardiff, the Lou must therefore beat Racing in the early afternoon. It will not be a sinecure, but it undoubtedly has the potential and the game to achieve its ends.
The opponent
Racing is gaining momentum
Spring seems to give Racing wings. In any case, it is gaining momentum in recent weeks. Bad in top 14 in early March and eliminated from the champions Cup, he was then on the edge of the abyss. But he knew how to bounce back in the wake of the “doctor” collaborate called to his bedside.
Paying back into a Cup challenge, he won in Perpignan and Galway against the Connacht to reach the semi-finals. In the championship, he won in Clermont (23-21), but also dropped Bordeaux (36-31) and the Stade Français (49-24), last Sunday, to place himself in the qualification race.
during the last two months, he only lost a top 14 match in Perpignan. And he showed his ease outside where he therefore won three times on land (Michelin, Aimé-Giral, Galway) who speak to the Lou since he has lost this season.
For this trip to Lyon, Patrice Collazo has retained the framework of his victorious derby team against the Stade Français. However, he changed the whole of his first line, leaving in particular the former Lyonnais Bamba at rest, and replaced Farrell in the center of the attack line alongside Fickou.
The figure
8
The number of lou’s row victories at the Matmut Stadium in Gerland in Cup Challenge. He won 3 this season (Cardiff, Cheetahs, Sharks) and 5 in the 2021/2022 season finished in this competition in this competition (Treviso, Gloucester, Worcester, Glasgow, Wasps). His latest home defeat in CUP Challenge dates back to January 20, 2018 against Cardiff (18-21).
The key of the match
The Lou will have to find the spark to ignite Gerland
And first of all a certainty! Whatever the weather and the wind, the sense of rain in a soot sky or even the reverberation of the sun on the synthetic lawn, it will be hot, very hot on the shots of 1:30 p.m. when kicking off in the span of the Matmut Stadium in Gerland. This CUP challenge semi-final between Lou and Racing promises to be explosive.
The two teams each have an arsenal of warriors with weapons of massive destruction in front and the powder to make them speak behind. Faced with the direct game of Racing, the Lyonnais collective intends to respond by a constant commitment in the combat phases and the ground game, but also an impeccable defense and extreme resilience in the brand area, in particular on the small sides that the Racingmen love to play.
But it was not by relying on a clean conquest that he can trace the furrow of his victory. He needs a stable melee and a precise touch in order to be able to put his rugby in place and the speed at his game. If he succeeds, he will take a big step towards victory and the qualification for the final.
The Lou needs this spark to ignite the match. By adding a suspicion of application on the counter balloons with which the strip in Niniashvili takes pleasure in lighting braziers of the game all over the field, he will then be able to highlight and illuminate Gerland …
The Lou player followed
The right return of the Jermaine Pillar Ainsley pillar
Jermaine Ainsley had arrived during the summer without making noise in Lyon from the Highlanders of Dunedin. This New Zealand, international … Australian three times in 2018, had established itself without a blow to the right side of the Mélée du Lou which he had helped stabilize at the start of the season. Dynamic in the game and solid in defense, he then brought a lot to the Lyon Pack.
But like most of the New Zealand pillars that chain the top 14 after the super rugby, without a rest beach, it knew a soft stroke at the entrance to winter. He was also caught up by the “us and customs” of the French championship, where the fray and its arbitration have nothing to do with what is done in the southern hemisphere. He spent an end of fall and a difficult start of winter even becoming the LOU player most often sanctioned: 15 penalties, including 12 in scratches.
While he had played 13 of the first 15 games of the top 14 with 11 tenure in the key, Jermaine Ainsley only participated since at a end of the match against Toulon the 1is March. He was the victim that day of a fracture of 2e Metacarpus of the left hand which removed it two months from the field. Today he makes his comeback. And Lou supporters hope that he will appear in his best light …
The Declaration
Even if the route was tortuous to get there, we are where we wanted to be. We approach this period with great desire and determination. I feel the group ready physically and mentally fresh. This week, we were focused on the Cup challenge. We want to continue our dream and not be brutally awakened by an elimination
Baptiste Couilloud, half of melee and captain of the Lou
The referee
English Karl Dickson with whistle
The CUP Challenge semi-final between Lou and Racing will be led by English Karl Dickson. 42 years old, this experienced referee participated in the last two World Cups. He was also at the whistle of the France – Italy match in 2023 at the Groupama Stadium in Lyon. He already arbitrated the Lou on a recovery in champions Cup during the victory against Tréviso (28-0) in December 2019.
Before being a referee, Karl Dickson was half a renowned melee. He played more than 150 matches with the Harlequins between 2009 and 2017, winning the title of Champion of England 2012 and the European challenge 2011.
The lou stat
4
The Lou will play the fourth semi-final of its modern history. After losing two Top 14 semi-finals against Montpellier (14-40) in 2018 at Groupama Stadium and Clermont (13-33) in Bordeaux in 2019, he won his Challenge Cup semi-final against the Xasps (20-18) at the Matmut Stadium in Gerland in May 2022.
