Lyon, outclassed, was no match for the South African Bulls (59-19), mercilessly on Saturday in Pretoria, in the round of 16 of the Champions Cup.
Le Lou, caught at the entry throat, conceded nine tries, including three in the first half hour by winger Sebastian de Klerk (13th), scrum half Embrose Papier (21st) and third row Marcell Coetzee (28th), before literally sinking.
The Rhone tests of scrum half Martin Page-Relo (31st) and fullback Thaakir Abrahams (56th), supplemented by a penalty try (47th), did not in fact change much: second row Ruan Vermaak (34th), fullback Willie Le Roux (49th), Papier again (54th) then center David Kriel (69th), fly-half Chris Smith (72nd) and de Klerk (77th) all went there with their ECU in favor of the South Africans, implacable and realistic, who knew how to take advantage of a Lyon defense on the street.
The Bulls, led by a very leggy Canan Moodie, will face the winner of the Anglo-Irish duel between Northampton and Munster in the quarter-final next week.
Too naive, never in the game, the Lyonnais had the lead in the Top 14 anyway where they are stuck in a pitiful 12th place, with four points ahead of Montpellier (13th, 38 pts).
They also presented themselves with a largely reshuffled team, deprived of its executives (Couilloud, Berdeu, Niniashvili, R. Taofifenua...) left to rest. The match in Perpignan in two weeks, on the 21st day of the French championship, has more importance.
Two years after its success in the Challenge Cup, Lyon must now save its skin in the Top 14.