Fourteen-man Saracens hold on against Lyon

MATCH REPORT: Saracens defeated Lyon 28-20 in a hard-hitting game in Round 2 of the Champions Cup at Matmut Stadium de Gerland on Saturday.

Tries from Jamie George, Ben Earl and Sean Maitland helped the three-time winners of EPCR’s leading competition to victory on the road, as did 10 points from the boot of captain Owen Farrell.

They had to hold on with 14 men in the last 13 minutes when Alec Clarey was sent off – Lyon pushed hard and came back from 15-0 down to take the lead, though they fell just short despite tries from Hamza Kaabèche (2) and Fletcher Smith.

It was flyhalf Farrell who kicked the first points of the game early on, and when Lyon lock Felix Lambey was sent to the sin bin, the visiting side extended their lead as hooker George touched down amid a driving maul.

Saracens further expounded their early dominance with another try while Lyon were still down to 14, some impressively quick hands eventually allowing flank Earl to stroll over the line.

But restored to full strength, Lyon showed their capabilities; on 28 minutes they put together a series of big phases to inch closer to the Saracens line, and eventually prop Kaabèche crossed for his first try.

His second came five minutes later as he finished off an impressive flowing move, running into the corner like a seasoned wing.
Saracens led 15-10 at the break, but the hosts burst back out following the restart, fly-half Smith scything through to score and provide the extras to give Lyon the lead.

Going behind gave new life to Saracens, and they broke from their own try line to score on 55 minutes, centre Alex Lozowski breaking before finding George, who kicked through for wing Maitland to gather and cross.

Farrell slotted a penalty to give Sarries an eight-point lead soon after, but it didn’t last long as Smith clawed back three points through a kick his own.

With 13 minutes to go Saracens then went down to 14, and replacement prop Clarey was sent off for a high tackle.

It set up a grandstand finish, but Lyon were unable find a way through, and a last-gasp penalty from Saracens full-back Daly cost the home side a losing bonus point.

The two sides will face each other once more in Round three, with Lyon travelling to the StoneX Stadium on January 14.

The scorers:

For Lyon:
Tries: Kaabeche 2, Smith
Con: Smith
Pen: Smith

For Saracens:
Tries: George, Earl, Maitland
Cons: Farrell 2
Pens: Farrell 2, Daly

Teams

Lyon: 15 Alexandre Tchaptchet, 14 Xavier Mignot, 13 Thibaut Regard, 12 Kyle Godwin, 11 Tavite Veredamu, 10 Fletcher Smith, 9 Baptiste Couilloud, 8 Jordan Taufua (captain), 7 Mickael Guillard, 6 Theo William, 5 Temo Mayanavanua, 4 Felix Lambey, 3 Francisco Gomez Kodela, 2 Yanis Charcosset, 1 Hamza Kaabèche.
Replacements: 16 Guillaume Marchand, 17 Jérôme Rey, 18 Paulo Tafili, 19 Loann Goujon, 20 Arno Botha, 21 Jonathan Pélissié, 22 Jean-Marc Doussain, 23 Alfred Parisien.

Saracens: 15 Elliot Daly, 14 Alex Lewington, 13 Alex Lozowski, 12 Nick Tompkins, 11 Sean Maitland, 10 Owen Farrell (captain), 9 Ivan van Zyl, 8 Billy Vunipola, 7 Ben Earl, 6 Theo McFarland, 5 Hugh Tizard, 4 Callum Hunter-Hill, 3 Marco Riccioni, 2 Jamie George, 1 Mako Vunipola.
Replacements: 16 Tom Woolstencroft, 17 Eroni Mawi, 18 Alec Clarey, 19 Jackson Wray, 20 Andrew Christie, 21 Aled Davies, 22 Alex Goode, 23 Max Malins.

Referee: Frank Murphy (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Eoghan Cross (Ireland), Paul Haycock (Ireland)
TMO: Leo Colgan (Ireland)

Source: @ChampionsCup