Stade Rochelais' Stade Marcel-Deflandre fell silent in honour of Lions second-row Hyron Andrews, following his tragic death at the age of 31.
Andrews died suddenly on Friday morning, after being found unresponsive in the shower at the Lions' team hotel in La Rochelle. In a statement, South African Rugby said his death had been an "accident" and that the 31-year-old had "died after a fall".
His club confirmed yesterday that they would play Saturday's match against Stade Rochelais in his honour. Following the tragic news, every match in Europe has been preceded by a minute's silence in Andrews' memory.
Emotional scenes in La Rochelle
The minute's silence in La Rochelle was particularly charged, with a number of Andrews' team-mates in tears. A Lions jersey featuring the number five was laid on the pitch in front of the Lions team, honouring the former second-row.
Two of Stade Rochelais' South African players - Dillyn Leyds and Salmaan Moerat - also handed one of the French club's jerseys to a Lions official in another emotional moment.
The stadium then applauded after the match reached the five-minute mark, in honour of Andrews' jersey number. That touching moment came shortly after the Lions had taken the lead in an emotionally-charged match.
Coach explains decision to play
Explaining why the Lions decided to continue with their first-ever match in the Champions Cup despite the awful circumstances, Lions head coach Ivan van Rooyen said pre-match that it was important to honour Andrews by playing.
"Obviously it's been a tough 24 hours," he said. "We've decided to celebrate Hyron, show respect to his wife Maiglin and his kids, Hendrix and Emerson. Celebrate life. It gets taken away so quickly. Celebrate humanity."
"La Rochelle, the people at the hotel, the police - everyone has been unbelievable. We got hundreds of thousands of messages from all over the world, so we decided to show the respect and play the game."
He added: "It's not about win or lose today. It's not about rugby. It's about living, to get enough light for every day. We want to show the respect to Hyron. Unbelievable guy and unbelievable player. World-class dad and husband. Us arriving for the game shows how much it means to us and how much it means to everyone."
