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Toujours invaincu dans la compétition
Edinburgh centre Sam Beard hopes the Gunners can claim another French scalp when they host Lyon at Murrayfield in Pool 4 of the European Rugby Challenge Cup.
The Scottish side opened their Challenge Cup campaign with a 15-13 victory over Bordeaux-Begles, thanks to Tom Heathcote’s conversion of a late penalty try. It puts the Guinness Pro12 side in good shape after shaking off their patchy form on the domestic stage by stunning a Bordeaux side flying high in the Top 14.
Beard, who joined the club from New Zealand province Bay of Plenty last year, wants Alan Solomons’ side to build on their excellent start.
He said: “We have talked a lot this week about building on the Bordeaux result with another victory against Lyon. We know it will not be easy because they started off with a win against London Welsh, but we enjoy playing at home and we are feeling good.
“I feel I have settled well here. I have been pleased to start at outside centre a number of times. Andries Strauss is an intelligent player to play alongside while Phil Burghley and Tom Heathcote are both good players and we have already built up a good understanding in midfield.”
Lyon top the pool after picking up a bonus-point in their 28-18 win over London Welsh and Fabrice Estebanez has hailed the talent of the younger players in their squad.
He said: “We must congratulate some of our younger players for the way they handled playing in continental competition for the first time.
“It is different from playing in the league and they have done very well, and we want to see the same against Edinburgh.”
Match Facts
- These sides have never met in Europe before.
- Edinburgh Rugby returned to the Challenge Cup last weekend for the first time since 1996/97 with a win over French opposition – their last game before that had also been a win against a French side in 1997.
- Of their seven games in the Challenge Cup, five have been against teams from France, with Edinburgh winning the last three.
- Lyon have won four of their last five fixtures in the Challenge Cup.
- Last weekend saw Lyon beat 37 defenders and make 16 clean breaks.
- Lyon made more passes than any other team in the tournament last week (169).
- Edinburgh’s three wins in the tournament have all been won by three points or less.
- Lyon’s Franck Romanet and Waisele Seru Sukanaveita (7) beat more defenders than any other players in the opening round of fixtures.
- Edinburgh’s Sam Beard made 71m from just four carries in last weekend’s fixture against Bordeaux-Begles.
Toujours invaincu dans la compétition
Edinburgh moved top of Pool 4 with a hard-fought 25-17 victory over Lyon at Murrayfield.
Alan Solomons’ side secured their second victory over French opposition in as many weeks, building on their superb away win over Bordeaux-Begles in round one.
Solomons made just one change from their win over Bordeaux and was rewarded with another fine display from his side.
They raced to a 22-7 half-time lead and despite a spirited second half comeback from the French visitors, they held on for the win. Fly-half Tom Heathcote was the star of the show kicking 20 points with the boot, to add to Jack Cuthbert’s early try.
The home side were in control from the start, with Cuthbert crossing the whitewash after just five minutes to add to an early Heathcote penalty.
Heathcote slotted the conversion and added a second penalty after 11 minutes to give Edinburgh a commanding 13-point lead.
But Lyon managed to get a foothold in the game and Masi Matadigo went over from close range for a try, with Jerome Porical adding the extras.
Two quick Heathcote penalties put the home side back in charge and another shortly before the break gave them a lead of 22-7 at half-time.
Porical clawed back three points with a penalty right at the beginning of the second half after side entry into a ruck from Edinburgh.
A tight contest burst back into life just after the hour mark when Didier Tison crossed for a try, with Mathieu Loree adding the extras to bring the visitors back to within five points.
Edinburgh required a huge defensive effort to keep the visitors out and a last minute penalty from Heathcote ensured the win.
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