So near and yet so far for a Wasps side seeking to reach a European final for the first time in 15 years. Ultimately it was not to be but there were moments when the Premiership’s ninth-placed club appeared to have a genuine chance of denying Lyon a place in the Challenge Cup finale in Marseille on Friday week.
With under half an hour to go a resolute, committed Wasps were ahead 11-10 thanks to Jimmy Gopperth’s second penalty of the game but a converted 54th-minute try for the 20-year-old replacement hooker Yanis Charcosset and 15 points from fly-half Léo Berdeu, the top scorer in this season’s French Top 14, proved sufficient to propel Lyon to the first European final in their history.
