Emirates Lions look to maintain their unbeaten record, however, ill-discipline proved to be very expensive against a well-structured Stade Français Paris. Stade Francais is the deserved winner with 17-07.
The first twenty minutes of the match were spoilt by the number of errors which were made by both teams. However, the Emirates Lions were the dominant side on the attack with only brutal defence by the host that kept the Emirates Lions from scoring tries on several occasions. A well-deserved try by the Emirates Lions gave them an early 07-00 lead after twenty minutes of play.
The second quarter was once again spoilt with the number of mistakes made by both teams. The Emirates Lions are still dominant on the attack while the fierce defence by Stade Francais is the reason for most of the mistakes made by the Emirates Lions. The Emirates Lions led 07-00 at the halftime break with Stade Francais maybe a bit lucky to not be trailing with more points than the current seven points.
Stade Francais started like a house on fire and started to put pressure on the Emirates Lions. Two yellow cards did not help the Emirates Lions as Stade Francais scored 11 unanswered points in the third quarter to lead 11-07 with 20 minutes of play to go.
The fourth quarter belonged to Stade Francais with the help of the ill-discipline of the visitors during the last quarter. Three yellow cards in the second half did not help. Stade Francais winning 17-07.
Scorers:
Stade Francias Paris: Try: Laurent Panis. Penalties: Joris Segonds (2), Arthur Coville (2).
Emirates Lions: Try: Emmanuel Tshituka. Conversion: Gianni Lombard.
As it happened:
14:17 Emmanuel Tshituka scored the first try for the Emirates Lions from the back of a 5m lineout-maul. (00-07)
32:48 Alex Arrate (Stade Francais Paris) was sent off with a yellow card.
47:23 Joris Segonds converted a penalty for Stade Francais' first points of the match. (03-07)
54:09 JP Smith (Emirates Lions) was sent off with a yellow card.
55:11 Joris Segonds converted a penalty for Stade Francais. (06-07)
60:14 Laurent Panis scored Stade Francais's first try of the match from the back of a 5m lineout ball. (11-07)
66:34 Arthur Coville converted a penalty for Stade Francais. (14-07)
66:44 Henco van Wyk (Emirates Lions) was shown a yellow card.
78:43 Arthur Coville converted a penalty for Stade Francais. (17-07)
Teams:
Stade Francais Paris: 15. Kylan Hamdaoui, 14. Nadir Megdoud, 13. Theo Dachary, 12. Alex Arrate, 11. Stephane Ahmed, 10. Joris Segonds, 9. James Hall, 8. Ryan Chapuis (c), 7. Mathieu Hirigoyen, 6. Julien Ory, 5. Sitaleki Timani, 4. Nathan Huguen, 3. Vincent Koch, 2. Lucas Peyresblanques, 1. Moses Alo Emile. Replacements: 16. Laurent Panis, 17. Vasil Kakovin, 18. Paul Alo Emile, 19. Marcos Kremer, 20. Juan Martin Scelzo, 21. Paolo Odogwu, 22. Arthur Coville, 23. Pienasi Dakuwaqa,
Emirates Lions: 15. Andries Coetzee, 14. Quan Horn, 13. Henco van Wyk, 12. Marius Louw (c), 11. Edwill van der Merwe, 10. Gianni Lombard, 9. Morné van den Berg, 8. Emmanuel Tshituka, 7. Emile van Heerden, 6. Jaco Kriel, 5. Darrien Landsberg, 4. Willem Alberts, 3. Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 2. PJ Botha, 1. JP Smith. Replacements: 16. Michael van Vuuren, 17. Rhynardt Rijnsburger, 18. Ruan Smith, 19. Ruhan Straeulis 20. Sibusiso Sangweni, 21. JC Pretorius, 22. Andre Warner, 23. Manuel Rass.
