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Grenoble host Viadana at Stade Lesdiguières on Friday with both teams targeting their first win in the Amlin Challenge Cup. - 17/10/2013 08:16
French clubs Bayonne and Grenoble will face each other for the first time in Europe when they meet at Stade Jean-Dauger in Pool 4.
In fact they are unfamiliar foes at home as well having only met for the first time in the French Top 14 last season, when both sides won their home game.
That may be a good omen for Bayonne but it is Grenoble who have taken the domestic league by storm this season.
Andrew Farley’s side have already toppled Heineken Cup champions Toulon and Stade Francais and kick off their Amlin Challege Cup campaign on the back of successive away wins at Biarritz and, last week, Racing-Metro.
Star of the show in Paris was scrum-half James Hart, who was named player of the week by the French press for his 16 points that included a try, while Julien Caminati and Florian Faure have been rewarded this week with new contracts.
In contrast, Bayonne are just one place off the bottom of the Top 14 with just one win, over local rivals Biarritz, from their last six games.
Bayonne are also struggling for points without either Benjamin Boyet, the club’s top scorer in Europe, or last year’s highest scorer Jacques-Louis Potgeiter.
However they still possess a wealth of experience in British & Irish Lions scrum-half Mike Phillips, ex-Wallaby Mark Chisholm and former All Black Joe Rococoko and have only lost once in their last eight games in the Amlin Challenge Cup.
Pour sa première sortie à domicile en Amlin Challenge Cup
Bayonne turned the domestic form book on its head with a convincing victory over French rivals Grenoble.
In front of a passionate home crowd at Stade Jean-Dauger, the Basque club controlled this Amlin Challlenge Cup clash throughout.
However, it was not until the final minute that they finally claimed what could prove to be a vital bonus point come the end of Pool 4.
Bayonnemay be just one place off the bottom of the Top 14 but had lost just one of their previous eight games in Europe and took the lead inside four minutes. Wing Martin Bustos Moyano kicked the opening points and added a second penalty after Grenoble scrum-half Nicolas Bezy had briefly equalised.
However any concerns this was going to be a shoot-out between the kickers were swiftly dispelled when hooker Gregory Arganese barged over on 11 minutes.
Bezy clawed back a second penalty but Moyano hit back with a further two kicks of his own before Bayonne scored what proved to be a crucial try. Centre Sam Gerber darted over five minutes before half-time to open a commanding 23-6 lead that Bayonne never looked likely to surrender.
The first score of the second half was to be decisive and it came for the hosts when Matthieu Ugalde, an early replacement for injured wing Marvin O’Connor, crossed in the 49th minute to take the tie out of sight of Grenoble at 30-6.
Both sides rang the changes as the contest drifted into a midfield stalemate before Bayonne mustered one final attack that reaped a bonus-point reward. Replacement Opeti Fonua bustled over in the 80th minute for Bayonne’s fourth try, converted by fly-half Stephen Brett, to wrap up a successful night for the hosts.
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