The afternoon cross-over took place in Perpignan! Catalans and Lyonnais went blow for blow in an open match. Lou’s indiscipline, like the double card for Semi Radradra and Alfred Parisien, tipped the scales in favor of Usap (29-26). Franck Azéma’s men are reassured after the rout in Bordeaux. Le Lou had the match point but leaves with a defensive bonus.
The first period of this meeting will not go down in the annals of rugby. After half an hour of play where we saw a lot of penalties and very little play on either side, the Catalans and the Lyonnais were back to back in the score (9-9). The two teams fed off the opposing team’s indiscipline and Tommaso Allan and Léo Berdeu responded to each other. After scoring three new points from the boot of its opener, USAP finally scored the first try of the match at the very end of the first period at the end of a very long sequence concluded as a trickster by Tavite Veredamu (40 + 4th) , rewarding the slight domination of his team. A try which allowed Perpignan to take a ten-point lead at the break (19-9).
A crossover win by the USAP!
When we returned from the locker room, we saw a much more pleasant and disjointed match. It started with Alfred Parisien’s counter-attack attempt, which allowed Lyon to come back to within three points of USAP (46th). At the hour mark, Lou even regained the lead after Baptiste Couilloud’s sixth try of the season (61st). But the yellow cards of Semi Radradra and Alfred Parisien (65th), which left the Rhone team at 13 against 15 for 10 minutes, changed everything at the end of the match. In numerical superiority, the Catalan club finally snatched victory thanks to a powerful try from So’otala Fa’aso’o (69th), then showing heroism in defense in the final moments of the match to maintain their advantage.
Thanks to this victory, USAP gains a place in the ranking and is now 11th before facing Racing 92 next weekend. For its part, LOU falls to eighth place with this setback and will have to react next Saturday against Aviron Bayonnais.
