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Leinster, Munster and Connacht all began their pre-season campaigns with defeats in France, although their first outings of the summer were against sides who are all bracing for their first Pro14 outings next week. A youthful Leinster side came up just short in Lyon as they came out the wrong side of an entertaining 31-29 contest, while Munster improved after a dreadful first half to eventually lose 47-26 in La Rochelle. Connacht, meanwhile, let a 16-point lead slip in the final quarter against Vannes in Brittany, as Mack Hansen looked sharp on his return in a 36-35 defeat. Lyon 29 Leinster 28 Leinster's night in Lyon started brightly as Gus McCarthy (above), who was captain for the night, mauled his way over the line on three minutes, with Caspar Gabriel converting to give them a 7-0 lead. A misread by Joshua Kenny on defence allowed Lyon break down the left touchline on 18 minutes with some quick passes sending them through for a try to level things up, but the Irish side were back in front shortly after when Hugo McLaughlin’s clever chip and chase down the left saw the full-back play Connor Fahy in for a try and a 12-7 advantage. Five minutes before half time, Lyon once again exploited Leinster's narrow defence as they worked an overlap down the blindside, a converted try nudging them 14-12 ahead. Conor O’Tighearnaigh’s try put Leinster 19-14 ahead at half time, and they extended that 11 minutes into the second half when Alex Soroka dived over in the corner to make it 24-14. It was down to a three-point game just before the hour mark when Leinster’s rush defence was exploited for the third time, and with 15 minutes to play a mix-up in attack gave the French side a counterattacking opportunity, which eventually led to a penalty and a quick-tap for a fourth home try, sending them 28-24 in front. With 10 minutes left, Josh Ericson restored the Leinster lead at 29-28, but Lyon nudged back in front when they kicked a penalty from the edge of the 22. Oliver Coffey could have won it for Leo Cullen’s side with a penalty from the halfway line on 78 minutes, but while the scrum-half had the distance, his strike trailed right and wide. Leinster will return to pre-season action on 12 September when they host Zebre in a test event at the recently redeveloped Laya Arena. La Rochelle 47 Munster 26 Munster and La Rochelle effectively played two games in one at Stade Marcel Deflandre, with Clayton McMillan and Ronan O’Gara using separate XVs in each half, which was reflected in a 47-26 French win. There were fewer than three minutes on the clock when Gavin Coombes drove over the line to give Munster an early lead, the number 8 powering over from close range after good work from JJ Hanrahan and Sean Edogbo in the build-up. From there, the first half went downhill rapidly, as their hosts scored four quick tries to take a 28-5 lead by the end of the first quarter. Munster briefly stemmed the flow when the mauled their way over for a try by Lee Barron, but they were soon back under their posts as La Rochelle set their maul to work, a pair of tries giving them a 40-12 half time lead. With the teams rotated at half time, Munster looked much improved after the break, and another good maul saw Diarmuid Barron touch down and cut the La Rochelle lead on 46 minutes, while Brian Gleeson broke on to a neat Sean O’Brien pass for a fourth Munster try on 70 minutes. With four minutes to play, O’Gara’s side completed their win with an easy score off the back of a dominant scrum, rounding off a 47-26 win. Vannes 36 Connacht 35 Connacht were overpowered in the final quarter of their 36-35 defeat to Vannes in Brittany, but Stuart Lancaster will have been quietly pleased with his side in their first pre-season outing. They trailed 7-0 after an evenly matched opening quarter, and on 25 minutes finally got in for their try when they found Shane Jennings out wide from a scrum in the 22 , and Sam Gilbert converted for 7-7, although Vannes restored their lead with a second try shortly after. Mack Hansen played just over 50 minutes on his return from injury, and he had a key role in the second Connacht try on 32 minutes as he skipped into a gap and popped the ball up for Gilbert, who ran in and converted the score for 14-12. The Irish province were camped on their line in the final seconds of the opening half, but they would actually extend their lead when Gilbert made a perfect defensive read to pick off an interception, running the length of the pitch and converting again, giving them a 21-12 lead. They moved further clear two minutes into the second half when Josh Ioane capitalised on a dreadful Vannes error to get the fourth Connacht try and a 28-12 lead, and while the French side cut things back with a penalty try, a brilliant induvial effort from Finn Treacy moved the visitors 35-19 ahead. With Vannes gearing up for their first Top14 game of the season next week, and Connacht still four weeks out from their URC opener, the fitness told in the final quarter as the hosts wore Connacht down with their maul, scoring two tries to get things back to 35-31, before another maul in the corner with the final play of the game sealed their comeback win.