All of the Sale Sharks’ three tries came in the second half, as the hosts broke the resolved defence of their French opposition to cruise to a 28-05 win.
Wing Tom O’Flaherty finished in the corner in the 52nd minute, before lock Jonny Hill finished in the same spot ten minutes later.
Flanker Sam Dugdale added a third as the hosts pushed for a bonus point, a deserved reward for his man of the match performance, but they fell short in their search for a fourth try.
Whilst they didn’t go over, the hosts finished the first half on top too thanks to Ford.
He kicked a penalty either side of Stade Francais Paris’ only try, which came via centre Jeremy Ward, to send his side in 6-5 up at the break.
He set Sale Sharks up in the second period too with his third penalty. His kicking out of hand was near perfect all game, conducting the Sale Sharks attack and putting the Stade Francais Paris defence under pressure.
The only blemish on his record was the missed conversion after O’Flaherty’s score. By the time Ward and Dugdale went over Ford's replacement, Tom Curtis was on the field, the 22-year-old kicking the extras on both occasions to demonstrate exactly what he could do.
Scorers:
Sale Sharks: Tries: Tom O'Flaherty, Jonny Hill, Sam Dugdale. Conversions: Tom Curtis (2). Penalties: George Ford (3).
Stade Francais: Try: Jeremy Ward.
Teams
Sale Sharks: 15 Joe Carpenter, 14 Tom Roebuck, 13 Sam James, 12 Manu Tuilagi, 11 Arron Reed, 10 George Ford, 9 Gus Warr, 8 Dan du Preez, 7 Ben Curry (c), 6 Sam Dugdale, 5 Jonny Hill, 4 Ben Bamber, 3 Nick Schonert, 2 Tommy Taylor, 1 Si McIntyre. Replacements: 16 Agustin Creevy, 17 Ross Harrison, 18 Asher Opoku-Fordjour, 19 Cobus Wiese, 20 Josh Beaumont, 21 Raffi Quirke, 22 Tom Curtis, 23 Connor Doherty.
Stade Francais: 15 Leo Barre, 14 Kylan Hamdaoui, 13 Jeremy Ward (c), 12 Pierre Boudehent, 11 Peniasi Dakuwaqa, 10 Joris Segonds, 9 Hugo Zabalza, 8 Mathieu Hirigoyen, 7 Ryan Chapuis, 6 Julien Ory, 5 JJ van der Mescht, 4 Pierre-Henri Azagoh, 3 Paul Alo-Emile, 2 Lucas Peyresblanques, 1 Clement Castets. Replacements: 16 Mamoudou Meite, 17 Sergo Abramishvili, 18 Francisco Gomez Kodela, 19 Paul Gabrillagues, 20 Baptiste Pesenti, 21 Jules Gimbert, 22 Tanginoa Halaifonua, 23 Lester Etien.