Rugby: Hermance end Stade Lausanne's unbeaten run

Prior to the match, Lausanne’s injured captain, Emile Borrer told Swisster that Hermance traditionally got stronger as the season progressed and so it proved on Saturday in the Vaud capital where the visitors came on top 21-19 during a torrid, bitterly battled encounter.

There were three tries each during a match, but Lausanne were stunned to be on the wrong end of three of them within the first 21 minutes – Hermance skipper Thomas Douvegheant bagged two and Massa Ben Jawi the other.

Fly-half Iain Wise was the architect. “We played outstanding rugby in the first twenty minutes, best we’ve played in years,” he told Swisster.

On the receiving end of the barrage was Lausanne coach Andy Whitlow. “It was a tough one. They scored two tries in the first four minutes which the guys just didn’t show up for.”

Perhaps stung into action, Lausanne picked themselves up and their domination up front began to tell with Ian Gray, Jackie Dervy and Daniel Kaempf all scoring to steady the ship. “Credit to them to come back and grind them down and we missed a long-range penalty which would have won it in the final minute,” said Whitlow.

“It was based on a forward effort and we had them there,” he added. “We won three or four scrums against the head. But all credit to Hermance, they’re very defensive and tackle everything that moves.

“Somehow we allowed them to get back into the match. They have a stronger scrum and began to dominate the lineout and it was a pretty tense finish,” Wise summed up.

The result sets up an intriguing second half of the season, which gets underway in March next year. Lausanne lead the table by three points from Hermance who will be snapping at their heels come the Spring.

“We will be hoping that they slip up,” Wise looked ahead. “If we play to form it will be us against them in the final, and we’ve proved that we can beat them on their own ground.”

Meanwhile Swiss champions Geneva PLO occupy third place, nine points behind Hermance. In the league’s only other match on Saturday, Geneva got their season back on track with a efficient 17-3 defeat of CERN.

According to Geneva PLO coach, Olivier Achaintre, “We dominated the whole match and imposed our game. We were playing against the wind in the first half and they never threatened,” he said.

“We were well-organized and have been working really hard since our loss against Bern.”

Beren Evans, CERN team manager, told Swisster: “Our attack didn’t really come together in the second half. We were a bit stale and then their sub George Lucas came on and tore us apart really with two tries, one was an overlap and the other a missed tackle.”

CERN must be wondering exactly what they have to do to challenge the stronger teams and move up the table. Eleven points from nine games and sixth place doesn’t appear to compute for a side, which some of the more successful coaches contend is one they would rather avoid.

Evans is still scratching his head. “Definitely frustrated, there’s a lot of promise and not much to show for it at the end of the first half of the season and we’re going to be looking at ourselves very closely during the off season,” he said.

“Our tactics are pretty clear and the emphasis will be more on individuals,” he added.

The Swiss rugby leagues resume next year on March 7.