Top 14 2020/21 club-by-club season preview: Lyon
Lyon are taking the experienced route to their Top 14 and Champions Cup challenges.
Key signing
Mathieu Bastareaud: There are some big changes in store at ambitious Lyon – and the return, after a Covid-19 hit American adventure, of Bastareaud is arguably the biggest of them. You will have decide for yourself whether to consider the recruits as older or experienced.
Key departure
Julien Puricelli: You could pick any one of Carl Fearns and Liam Gill, Jean-Marcellin Buttin and Alexis Palison. But the emblematic Puricelli, whose retirement has long been expected to be fair, will be the biggest miss on the pitch in the heat of a match. He’s still very much involved as a coach, however.
https://twitter.com/RugbyPass/status/1289606352684249089
They say
“It is absolutely not taboo or shameful to say that we want to compete for the title. As we know well, a dozen clubs can do it. Or even 13. The competition will be fierce.”
– President Yann Roubert (Les Echos)
We say
It’s safe to say that Lyon’s pre-season did not go entirely according to plan. As other Top 14 clubs negotiated pay cuts with their players, Lyon reportedly struggled to find a consensus. There was even far-fetched talk about the president and manager, Pierre Mignoni, walking.
Coronavirus
To make matters worse, three players tested positive for Covid-19 three weeks before the first scheduled pre-season friendly. One was a false positive, but two players went into quarantine for two weeks, while health measures for the rest of the squad meant training plans were immediately restricted.
There are worse times to have such necessary restrictions imposed – just ask Stade Francais. Despite the sudden halt in training plans, Lyon have had time to adjust.
The two players in quarantine were – pending a requisite final batch of tests – due to return to training the week of August 17, ahead of Lyon’s opening pre-season friendly against Racing 92 – their opponents on the opening weekend of the Top 14 campaign.
European ambitions
Lyon are looking beyond domestic borders. Two disappointing Champions Cup campaigns, in which they have won just once, is chafing. Lyon are better than that and Mignoni will be determined to prove that.
Recruitment has been interesting, too. There’s no doubt Lyon, once perennial yo-yoers between the Top 14 and Pro D2, have the French championship – a title they have not won since 1933 – in their sights.
There may be something distinctly short-term about some of Lyon’s latest recruits. Bastareaud (31), Remy Grosso (31) and Alex Tulou (33) are all careering to retirement. But look closer – five academy signings are 20 or under. The youngest is 16. The captain, Baptiste Couilloud, is 23. This is a side that starts a dynasty.
Arrivals
Joe Taufete’e, Izack Rodda Matthieu Bastareaud, Colby Fainga’a, Gillian Galan, Leo Berdeu, Remy Grosso, Alex Tulou
Departures
Kevin Yameogo, Hendrik Roodt, Martial Rolland, Julien Puricelli, Carl Fearns, Liam Gill, Tanginoa Halaifonua, Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, Jean-Marcellin Buttin
"Your Fodens and all these other players…They kind of disappear into the background whereas this guy absolutely does not.”
– @rugbyunitedny founder talks about the impact of @BastaOfficiel with @heagneyl #FRAvENG #MLRugby ???? https://t.co/asNSLRjYI3
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) February 2, 2020
Comments on RugbyPass
Why cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
4 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to comments