Racing 92 beat USAP 24-18, securing the win with a late try.
It was a cagey start to proceedings in Perpignan, with both sides exchanging penalties in the opening 20 minutes.
Ex-Investec Champions Cup side Racing 92 were the first to flex their might on the try front when Demba Bamba burst through to score.
This set them on just the path they wanted to be as well. Henry Chavancy thought he’d added his side’s second soon after but it was ruled out for a forward pass after review.
The half was far from over for USAP, though, and the hosts warmed up to the tie as the half progressed. Italian Tommaso Allan slid in for a score on the far side to give USAP the lead with three minutes to go.
Racing burst out of the second-half traps to regain the lead - Jordan Joseph’s score setting up an Antoine Gilbert conversion to find a six-point advantage.
USAP’s Tavite Veredamu and Racing’s Nolann Le Garrec both crossed to cancel each other out before Wame Naituvi finally gave the Parisian outfit a sizeable advantage with his score.
Scorers:
USAP: Tries: Tommaso Allan, Tavite Veredamu. Conversion: Tommaso Allan. Penalties: Tommaso Allan (2).
Racing 92: Tries: Demba Bamba, Jordan Joseph, Wame Naituvi. Conversions: Owen Farrell (2), Nolann le Garrec. Penalty: Owen Farrell.
Teams
USAP: 15 Tommaso Allan, 14 Tavite Veredamu, 13 Apisai Naqalevu, 12 Jeronimo de la Fuente (c), 11 Freddy Duguivalu, 10 Jake McIntyre, 9 James Hall, 8 Lucas Velarte, 7 Max Hicks, 6 Patrick Sobela, 5 Mathieu Tanguy, 4 Tristan Labouteley, 3 Pietro Ceccarelli, 2 Seilala Lam, 1 Bruce Devaux. Replacements: 16 Victor Montgaillard, 17 Giorgi Beria, 18 Akato Fakatika, 19 Adrien Warion, 20 Lucas Bachelier, 21 Gela Aprasidze, 22 Valentin Delpy, 23 Riko Buliruarua.
Racing 92: 15 Tristan Tedder, 14 Donovan Taofifenua, 13 Henry Chavancy, 12 Vinaya Habosi, 11 Gael Fickou, 10 Owen Farrell, 9 Antoine Gibert, 8 Jordan Joseph, 7 Noa Zinzen (c), 6 Maxime Baudonne, 5 Romain Taofifenua, 4 Junior Kpoku, 3 Demba Bamba, 2 Janick Tarrit, 1 Hassane Kolingar. Replacements: 16 Diego Escobar, 17 Lee-Marvin Mazibuko, 18 Thomas Laclayat, 19 Boris Palu, 20 Shingi Manyarara, 21 Wame Naituvi, 22 Nolann le Garrec, 23 Sam James.