The Lions hosted Lyon Olympique Universitaire and sped into a 28-07 lead just before halftime. However, Lyon continued to attack, and the Lions hung on desperately to a 35-33 lead before Morne Brandon secured a 42-33 win with time up on the clock.
The Lions started like a house on fire and launched a fifteen-man attack, and eventually the last pass was to Batho Hlekani, who scored his first try for the Lions. Chris Smith converted to extend the Lions' lead to 07-00 after eight minutes of play.
Six minutes later, a loose pass by Bronson Mills was scooped up by Charly Mignot to score an easy try. Paddy Jackson converted to level the score.
The Lions continued their fifteen-man attack game plan, and eventually Richard Kriel scored in the corner, and Chris Smith converted to extend the Lions' lead to 14-07 after eighteen minutes of play.
Quan Horn scored the Lions' third try following great interplay by the Lions, extending the Lions’ lead to 21-07 after twenty-four minutes of play in the first half.
Following a lengthy break for an injury, the Lions upped the pace of their attack, and eventually it was Renzo du Plessis who scored the Lions' fourth and bonus-point try. Smith added the extra two points to extend the Lions' lead to 28-07, and four minutes left to play in the first half.
Lyon attacked from the kick-off, and fullback Alexandre Tchaptchet crashed over with two players on his back. Paddy Jackson converted to cut the Lions to 28-14, which was also the halftime score.
Lyon attacked from the kickoff in the second half, and eventually it was scrumhalf Esteban Gonzalez who scored in the corner to cut the Lions' lead to 28-19.
Lyon slowly wrestled control from the Lions and replied to the try scored by Angelo Davids with a try by Mathis Sarragallet to trail 26-35 with twenty-five minutes still to play in the second half.
Thereafter, the game lost a lot of its structure; however, Lyon upped the pace of their attack and scored their fifth try by Alfred Parisien with five minutes still to play. Paddy Jackson converted to make it a two-point game.
With time up on the clock, the Lions’ Morne Brandon secured a 42-22 win, bulldozing his way over Lyon’s tryline.
Scorers:
Lions: Tries: Batho Hlekani, Richard Kriel, Quan Horn, Renzo du Plessis, Angelo Davids, Morne Brandon. Conversions: Chris Smith (6).
Lyon Olympique Universitaire: Tries: Charly Mignot, Alexandre Tchaptchet, Esteban Gonzalez, Mathis Sarragallet, Alfred Parisien. Conversions: Paddy Jackson (4).
Teams
Lions: 15 Quan Horn, 14 Richard Kriel, 13 Erich Cronje, 12 Bronson Mills, 11 Angelo Davids, 10 Chris Smith, 9 Morne van den Berg, 8 Francke Horn (c), 7 Batho Hlekani, 6 Renzo du Plessis, 5 Ruan Delport, 4 Dylan Sjoblom, 3 Conraad van Vuuren, 2 PJ Botha, 1 Eddie Davids. Replacements: 16 Morne Brandon, 17 RF Schoeman, 18 Sebastian Lombard, 19 Ruben Schoeman, 20 Sibabalwe Mahashe, 21 Haashim Pead, 22 Henco van Wyk, 23 Rabz Maxwane.
Lyon Olympique Universitaire: 15 Alexandre Tchaptchet, 14 Charly Mignot, 13 Alfred Parisien, 12 Josiah Maraku, 11 Arthur Mathiron, 10 Paddy Jackson, 9 Esteban Gonzalez, 8 Arno Botha, 7 Beka Saginadze, 6 Antoine Deliance (captain), 5 Killian Geraci, 4 Félix Lambey, 3 Cedate Gomes Sa, 2 Mathis Sarragallet, 1 Hamza Kaabeche. Replacements: 16 Thomas Marceline, 17 Jérôme Rey, 18 Ave Maalo, 19 Mickael Guillard, 20 Liam Allen, 21 Lilian Baret, 22 Iosefo Balewairiki, 23 Jiuta Wainiqolo.