A night as a tamer The hungriest Lions in the Lyon cage It’s up to Marin and Ioane

Points are needed to get your hands on the pass for the round of 16 Coach Bortolami chooses Negri as captain, out of Lamaro

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Lions in Lyon. An easy pun to introduce this Challenge Cup match on French soil, which is important for both, albeit for different reasons. Benetton, after having lost the first at Gloucester and won the second with the Dragons, knows that a success would open up the next round while for the French, who are already qualified, beating Treviso would mean mathematically securing first place and therefore having the advantage of playing at home in the round of 16, but also in a possible quarter-final or even in case of qualification for the semifinals. Therefore, there is no lack of stimuli for everyone and it is strictly forbidden to imagine a Lyon without drooling at the mouth just because it is already certain to pass to the second phase. The classification sees Lyon in the lead with 14 points (3-0), then Gloucester 6 (1-1), Benetton (1-1) and Perpignan (1-1) 4, Dragons 1. Gloucester-Perpignan is played today.

How is Benetton doing? Discreetly, as far as we have seen against the Dragons. Let’s say that the team in the first half took off the rust and, in the second half, it appeared much more incisive. Of course we all know how many and what difficulties you have to face in a race at the home of the French cousins: the Lyon nedl Top 14 is fifth with 40 points (8-7) behind leaders Bordeaux (50) and the Toulouse-Castres duo. at an altitude of 41. For this trip coach Marco Bortolami, which sees the return of some negativized players, has decided to change more than half of them, that is eight: Ioane returns to the trocar for Sperandio, a whole new median with Leonardo Marin at the opening for Rhyno Smith and Braley around the fray for Duvenage. Two new features also in the third line, where Seb Negri, the new captain, replaces Halafihi and Braam, Steyn does the same with Lamaro. In second we have Niccolò Cannone for Herbst while in first the young Nicotera, in the sixth presence, was preferred to Els to the heel. Traorè replaces Zani as prop.

After this match 23 Leoni will go to blue, in preparation for the first two matches of the Six Nations against France and England in Verona, respectively on Sunday 6 February at 4 pm at the Stade de France in Paris and on Sunday 13 February at 4 pm at the Olimpico in Rome. Lyon and Benetton have never met in the Challenge Cup, but were in the same group in the Heineken Cup in 2019-20, with each team winning their respective home game at the time.

Lyon, if successful, could match their longest streak of Challenge wins (4 between December 2014 and October 2016). Five of Benetton’s six away wins in the Challenge have come in France, the most recent against Stade Français in Paris in December 2020 (44-20). Lyon enter this match against Benetton after having recorded, in the previous three games, the highest number of steals (23) and the highest number of turnovers (39). It means that they are a very aggressive team and that they love to play bubbly and fast rugby offshore, even at the cost of conceding something. A bit like the French teams have always done. In short, we are always champagne versus prosecco. We will see tonight who will demonstrate that they have more bubbles. –