The ‘real soldiers’ kick that has left Lyon heading into final with Bath on the back of a defeat
Lyon players celebrate at Ospreys last month but they were out of luck at Stade Francais on Saturday
Lyon’s preparations for next weekend’s EPCR Challenge Cup final versus Bath in Cardiff were dented by a late penalty on Saturday in Paris scored by Zack Henry, the former Leicester player.
The European finalists had travelled to Paris looking for the win that would keep them in the hunt for the end-of-season Top 14 play-offs. They looked all set to secure that victory, leading 30-28 coming down the finishing straight at Stade Jean Bouin.
However, Paul Gustard’s side kicked a 78th-minute penalty to snatch the 30-31 win that lifted them out of the relegation zone and into 12th place on the Top 14 table ahead of Perpignan.
Played down his kick
The successful 40-metre kick enabled Henry to make amends for last weekend’s failure at Perpignan, where Stade Francais lost 18-20. After beating Lyon, though, the English fly-half played down his match-winning accuracy and instead gave all the credit to his team’s forwards.
Speaking to the media following Stade’s win, Henry said: “Goal kickers work for that, for those moments when we have to stay focused on the process. I didn’t think about everything that was at stake.
“We kick for 10 months of the year and we know that every kick is different. Last week, I unfortunately missed. But I quickly changed, I worked on the mental aspect to be ready. Every match we start from scratch, so I didn’t think about this failure.
“I’m a small 10, I take the kicks, the penalties. We talk about the last three points, but it’s the forwards who did all the work. And not just on match day, but every day of the week in training. Putting their heads in the rucks, the scrums, etc – I can’t even imagine.
Soldiers of the club
“Everything they do is incredible, especially here at Stade Francais, where we rely on them a lot. The last three points are the result of their work; they’re the ones who won that penalty. They’re the real soldiers of the club.”
In contrast to Lyon, who are now 11th on the Top 14 table and three points outside the play-off cut-off point with two rounds of fixtures remaining, Bath limbered up for next Friday’s Challenge Cup final by consolidating their place at the top of the Gallagher Premiership with a 43-15 home hammering of title rivals Leicester.