Saracens ease past Lyon

CHAMPIONS CUP REPORT: Two-time champions Saracens comfortably beat Lyon 29-10 at Allianz Park to put themselves in the driving seat of Pool Three in the Champions Cup.

Flyhalf Owen Farrell kicked over an early penalty for Saracens, followed by England international Maro Itoje scoring a superb solo try to put Saracens 10-0 up after another successful Farrell kick.

An error from the Lyon scrumhalf, Jean-Marc Doussain, gifted a chance to Sean Maitland, who collected the loose ball and dotted it down with Farrell adding the extras.

Lionel Beauxis did slot over a penalty to get Lyon on the scoreboard but the London side went into the break 17-3 ahead.

Brad Barritt, who was named Man of the Match, latched onto the back off a driving maul and pilled over to extend Saracens’ lead.

Lyon gave the English champions a scare late on after Doussain’s quick touch-and-go put Virgille Lacombe under the sticks, which Beauxis converted.

But Alex Lewington secured the all-important try-scoring bonus point for Saracens with minutes remaining, following an excellent move which the wing finished in the corner.

Saracens will host Cardiff Blues in the next round, while Lyon welcome Glasgow Warriors.

FULL TIME | Saracens 29-10 Lyon ⚫️🔴 pic.twitter.com/GXe4vGaLj1

— Saracens Rugby Club (@Saracens) October 20, 2018

The scorers:

For Saracens:
Tries: Itoje, Maitland, Barritt, Lewington
Cons: Farrell 3
Pen: Farrell

For Lyon:
Try: Lacombe
Con: Beauxis
Pen: Beauxis

Teams:

Saracens: 15 Alex Goode, 14 Liam Williams, 13 Nick Tompkins, 12 Brad Barritt, 11 Sean Maitland, 10 Owen Farrell, 9 Ben Spencer, 8 Jackson Wray, 7 Mike Rhodes, 6 Maro Itoje, 5 George Kruis, 4 Will Skelton, 3 Vincent Koch, 2 Jamie George, 1 Richard Barrington.
Replacements: 16 Christopher Tolofua, 17 Hayden Thompson-Stringer, 18 Titi Lamositele, 19 Ben Earl, 20 Schalk Burger, 21 Richard Wigglesworth, 22 Marcelo Bosch, 23 Alex Lewington.

Lyon: 15 Jean-Marcellin Buttin, 14 Toby Arnold, 13 Rudi Wulf, 12 Adrien Seguret, 11 Alexis Palisson, 10 Lionel Beauxis, 9 Jean-Marc Doussain, 8 Deon Fourie, 7 Patrick Sobela, 6 Dylan Cretin (captain), 5 Etienne Oosthuizen, 4 Felix Lambey, 3 Clément Ric, 2 Jeremie Maurouard, 1 Hamza Kaabèche.
Replacements: 16 Virgile Lacombe, 17 Albertus Buckle, 18 Richard Choirat, 19 Francois van der Merwe, 20 Carl Fearns, 21 Pierre-Louis Barassi, 22 Xavier Mignot, 23 Quentin Delord.

Referee: George Clancy (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Stuart Gaffikin (Ireland), Paul Haycock (Ireland)
TMO: Brian MacNeice (Ireland)

@ChampionsCup