Exeter and Lyon ready to churn the turf

In another celebration of Anglo-French rivalry, defending champions Exeter Chiefs will flex their muscles against Lyon at Sandy Park.

After hoisting the trophy in the 2019-20 instalment of the Champions Cup, the Chiefs hit the ground running in Round 1 with a commanding 42-0 victory over Glasgow Warriors. As deduced from the score-line, Glasgow did not have much answer to Exeter’s challenge and the latter managed to dominate their opponents in every facet of the game.

Unfortunately for Rob Baxter’s charges, they were obliged to withdraw from Round 2 after a presence of Covid-19 in their camp, thus surrendering a 5-point victory to would-be rivals Toulouse.

Lyon find themselves in a desirable decision as they travel to Sandy Park; first bringing the hammer down on Gloucester 55-10 in Round 1 before taking the spoils in Round 2 after Glasgow were also forced to pull out due to Covid.

Lyon were slick, aggressive and determined against the Cherry & Whites in Round 1, running in a total of 8 tries while conceding only 1. It began up front where, from the outset, it was clear that the Gloucester pack would not be able to stand up to their French counterparts, the latter cementing a solid platform from which they and their back could carve up the Gloucester defence.

Saturday’s fixture is a mouth-watering prospect and promises to be a hard-fought contest between two teams who have shown their determination to be unwavering. The battle in the forwards, particularly, will be immense.