Lyon head coach Pierre Mignoni has hailed his side ahead of their Heineken Champions Cup debut this month, describing the achievement as “a great reward”. The Heineken Champions Cup debutants qualified for the competition after a fifth-place finish in last season’s Top 14 – ahead of three-time finalists ASM Clermont Auvergne and 2017 Challenge Cup winners Stade Français Paris. It marks a fantastic turnaround after being promoted from Pro D2, the second tier of French rugby, back in 2016 under Mignoni, who has overseen the rise since taking over as head coach in 2015. “We’re very proud to have qualified for this competition for the first time in the club’s history,” Mignoni said. https://twitter.com/ChampionsCup/status/1046700927414153217 “This club has developed a lot, a massive amount of hard work has gone in to making sure everyone at the club is involved - the shareholders, my staff, the players. And being where we are today is a great reward for that. “The route we’ve taken is a bit unconventional. Two or three years ago we were playing in Pro D2, and we needed to rebuild the team and rebuild the mentality. “This club has experienced some tough times, promotions and then relegations in the past, but they always kept faith, and the club has moved from a stadium which held 3,000 people to where we are today. “The change has been remarkable, coming in such a short space of time.” The 41-year-old added that the challenges of competing in Europe’s elite club competition closely match those of an international Test match. https://twitter.com/ChampionsCup/status/1046688733880291329 “From a playing point of view, it took a bit of time for the club to find its feet at the highest level, but we’ve managed that by managing to qualify for the Heineken Champions Cup and it’s something we’re extremely proud of. “It’s a competition that pits the best against one another, the best teams in the Northern Hemisphere. I was lucky enough to win it for Toulon and these occasions are fantastic; it’s a really high standard of rugby. Some of the matches are close to international level. “I’m in charge of a team that’s going to discover all that: the level, the intensity, the demands of the competition. It will be useful for me, but we know how difficult it’s going to be.”