Stade Français claimed the bragging rights from Sunday’s Parisian derby with a deserved 27-23 win over Racing 92 at Stade Jean-Bouin.
In a thrilling and sometimes tumultuous encounter, both sides played most of the match with 14 men after Pascal Papé and Wenceslas Lauret received red cards for throwing punches in a fight shortly before half-time.
Stade outscored their neighbours by three tries to two and Jules Plisson contributed 12 points via three conversions and two penalties.
The result means Stade move above Racing into sixth place on the table. Both sides are level on 58 points after 25 matches but Stade have a better points difference.
Racing had the better of the opening exchanges and took the lead as early as the fifth minute thanks to a Dan Carter penalty after Stade’s front row were penalised for illegal scrummaging.
The home side drew level in the 13th minute when Jules Plisson landed a penalty after Camille Chat infringed at a breakdown just outside his 22 and another penalty from Plisson in the 17th minute gave the home side the lead which they held until this fixture’s end.
Stade suffered a setback in the 24th minute when Jonathan Danty was sent to the sin bin for a high tackle on Henry Chavancy. Racing drew level when Carter slotted the resulting penalty and theythought they had taken the lead five minutes later when Juan Imhoff crossed the whitewash.
His effort was disallowed, however, as the TMO ruled that Chavancy hsd infringed in the build-up.
Things went from bad to worse for Racing shortly afterwards when Sergio Parisse intercepted a wayward Carter pass and ran 40 metres before dottig down under the posts.
Shortly afterwards, Papé and Lauret received their marching orders for their roles in a brawl between several players but Racing drew level on the stroke of half-time when Casey Laulala crossed for their opening try after gathering a brilliant offload from Carter inside Stade’s 22.
The second half started brilliantly for Stade when Djibril Camara scored a try from the kick off. They extended their lead when Danty gathered his own kick ahead before crossing the whitewash and with the score at 27-13, the home side were in control.
Racing did not surrender, however, and a Ben Tameifuna try from closequarters in the 62nd minute meant they were still in the game but time was running out on the clock.
And although another Carter penalty in the 70th minute meant they were within four points of taking the lead, it was not to be as Stade kept them at bay with a resilient defensive effort in the game’s closing stages.
The scorers:
For Stade Français:
Tries: Parisse, Camara, Danty
Cons: Plisson 3
Pens: Plisson 2
Yellow Card: Danty
Red Card: Papé
For Racing 92:
Tries: Laulala, Tameifuna
Cons: Carter 2
Pens: Carter 2
Red Card: Lauret
Stade Français: 15 Hugo Bonneval, 14 Waisea Nayacalevu, 13 Geoffrey Doumayrou, 12 Jonathan Danty, 11 Djibril Camara, 10 Jules Plisson, 9 Will Genia, 8 Sergio Parisse, 7 Sylvain Nicolas, 6 Jonathan Ross, 5 Pascal Papé, 4 Paul Gabrillagues, 3 Rabah Slimani, 2 Laurent Panis, 1 Heinke Van der Merwe
Replacements: 16 Remy Bonfils, 17 Remi Seneca, 18 Alexandre Flanquart, 19 Raphael Lakafia, 20 Julien Dupuy, 21 Morne Steyn, 22 Jeremy Sinzelle, 23 Paul Alo-Emile
Racing 92: 15 Brice Dulin, 14 Joe Rokocoko, 13 Henry Chavancy, 12 Casey Laulala, 11 Juan Imhoff, 10 Dan Carter, 9 Maxime Machenaud, 8 Chris Masoe, 7 Bernard Le Roux, 6 Wenceslas Lauret, 5 Leone Nakarawa, 4 Gerbrandt Grobler, 3 Ben Tameifuna, 2 Camille Chat, 1 Viliamu Afatia
Replacements: 16 Virgile Lacombe, 17 Khatchik Vartanov, 18 Manuel Carizza, 19 Antonie Claassen, 20 James Hart, 21 Remi Tales, 22 Teddy Thomas, 23 Cedate Gomes Sa
Referee: Mathieu Raynal
Assistant Referees: Stéphane Boyer, Eric Soulan
TMO: Laurent Sclafer
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