Toulon beats Lyon and goes to the semi-finals

There was no photo in the quarter-finals of the Challenge Cup between Toulon and Lyon. FC Var largely won (48-23) with seven tries.

by the editorial board

published On 04/08/2023 at 15:51to update On 04/08/2023 at 16:14

Toulon easily beat Lyon on Saturday at Stade Maillol (48-23) in the quarter-finals of the Challenge Cup to once again advance to the quarter-finals of this unbeaten competition Varois. Thanks to this victory, RCT will play its second consecutive Challenge Cup semi-final, and third in the past four seasons. Toulon has reached the final of the event four times, but has not managed to lift the trophy. In the semi-finals, Pierre Mignone’s men will meet Treviso or Cardiff on the weekend of April 29 at Stade Maillol.

For defending champions Lyon, right-wing Toulon finalist last season, the Challenge Cup, on the other hand, is stalled at the quarter-final stage after its third defeat of the season against RCT. Al-Faris dominated in the first half, and lasted for half an hour before scoring the first try of the match on a good rebound led by Baptiste Ceren, and it was closed by Fijian winger Jyota Winkulu with three quarters (29). The attackers showed their strength (Teddy Bobigny 39 and Dani Brisso 40 + 4) to allow Toulon to return to the locker room with a comfortable lead (22-6).

During the second period, played with much more precision and desire on the part of the two teams, Varois was able to advance thanks to four new attempts from Wise Nayakalifu (50), Charles Olivone (58th), Enikolo to double (67) and Aymeric Locke (77). In contrast, LOU could only score two tries by half Baptiste Quelaud (61) and New Zealander Toby Arnold (72). The Lyonnais team should now focus on their top 14, flying into Toulouse on Sunday evening (9:05pm) for the 22nd. Toulon will host Perpignan on Saturday at 5:00 pm to keep its place in the top six.