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Stade Français claimed a famous victory at Murrayfield on Friday as they lifted the European Challenge Cup after a remarkable 25-17 performance against Gloucester. It was an act of defiance for a team that did not look anything near a Cup-winning side early in the season, suffering a heavy defeat to Harlequins in their opening round match and falling to Edinburgh in December. Just a few weeks ago they were told their club was effectively being absorbed by Racing 92 in a much-publicised debacle that instigated a strike action from players of both clubs.
Indeed the team could have been forgiven for packing it in early. A number of star players have already secured their departures. First choice players Rabah Slimani, Jono Ross, Geoffrey Doumayou, and Hugo Bonneval will not be in Paris next season. Raphaël Lakafia will join Bonneval at Toulon, and Pascal Papé is retiring. Will Genia is pondering his future at the club and even the great Sergio Parisse, the living embodiment of the club, appears to have one foot out the door.
The same could be said for the coach. Ironically Gloucester might have been the new home for Gonzalo Quesada had Mohed Altrad been allowed to invest in the Aviva Premiership club but Quesada will instead move to the Basque region to take over Biarritz. Having failed to qualify for the Top 14 playoffs this is the crowning achievement for a team that will bid adieu to so many familiar faces before the new season.
After a long-range Jonny May intercept try started the scoring, Billy Burns contributed the conversion and a penalty goal to give Gloucester an early 10-point lead. There would be no white flag waved on this day, however, and Jules Plisson erased the penalty goal soon after. It was Parisse who was in the right place and the right time to grab a rebound from Hugh Pyle after Genia had chipped ahead for his countryman. Plisson’s conversion was accurate level the scores.
Passions were raised after Willi Heinz followed through on a charge-down with an elbow to Plisson’s chin. Heinz was dispatched to the bin but that would not be the end of discussions. Antoine Burban took exception to an aggressive Lewis Ludlow clearout on Genia and within moments it was all-in. When the dust settled Ludlow was penalised and referee John Lacey was happy to leave the matter at that with halftime thankfully close enough to inspire cooler heads.
The turning point came in the 55th minute, when Greig Laidlaw’s kick ahead just barely rolled over the dead ball line before Tom Marshall could get there, though the replay did suggest that Hugo Bonneval had impeded Marshall’s pursuit ever so slightly. When the play was restarted it was Djibril Camara who emulated May’s earlier intercept, offloading to Bonneval who put Jonathan Danty clear for the run-in.
Morné Steyn fell short with a penalty goal in the 68th minute but it didn’t matter as Doumayrou took matters into his own hands, skipping past four defenders on his way to a decisive score. Steyn added a conversion before a three-pointer to kill the game. Ross Moriarty raced over for a consolation effort but the game was gone. Parisse lifted the Cup to thunderous applause for what might well have been his final act under the pink flag and truly the end of an era for Stade Français.
SCORING
GLOUCESTER 17
Tries – J. May (13′), R. Moriarty (78′)
Cons – B. Burns 2 (14′, 79′)
Pens – B. Burns (21′)
Yellow cards – W. Heinz (32′)
STADE FRANÇAIS 25
Tries – S. Parisse (31′), J. Danty (57′), G. Doumayrou (70′)
Cons – J. Plisson (31′), M. Steyn (71′)
Pens – J. Plisson (26′), M. Steyn (74′)
TEAMS
GLOUCESTER
1 Josh Hohneck, 2 Richard Hibbard, 3 John Afoa, 4 Tom Savage, 5 Jeremy Thrush, 6 Ross Moriarty, 7 Lewis Ludlow, 8 Ben Morgan, 9 Willi Heinz (capt.), 10 Billy Burns, 11 Jonny May, 12 Mark Atkinson, 13 Matt Scott, 14 Charlie Sharples, 15 Tom Marshall
Replacements: 16 Darren Dawidiuk, 17 Yann Thomas, 18 Paddy McAllister, 19 Mariano Galarza, 20 Freddie Clarke, 21 Greig Laidlaw, 22 Billy Twelvetrees, 23 Henry Triner
STADE FRANÇAIS
1 Heinke van der Merwe, 2 Rémi Bonfils, 3 Rabah Slimani, 4 Hugh Pyle, 5 Paul Gabrillagues, 6 Antoine Burban, 7 Jono Ross, 8 Sergio Parisse (capt.), 9 Will Genia, 10 Jules Plisson, 11 Djibril Camara, 12 Jonathan Danty, 13 Geoffrey Doumayrou, 14 Waisea Nayacalevu, 15 Hugo Bonneval
Replacements: 16 Laurent Panis, 17 Zurab Zhvania, 18 Paul Alo-Emile, 19 Willem Alberts, 20 Raphaël Lakafia, 21 Julien Dupuy, 22 Morné Steyn, 23 Jérémy Sinzelle
MATCH OFFICIALS
Referee: John Lacey (IRFU)
Assistants: Andrew Brace (IRFU) & Ben Whitehouse (WRU)
TMO: Simon McDowell (IRFU)
