Stade Francais scored 17 unanswered points in the second half to complete a comeback victory against the Lions in a Challenge Cup match in Paris on Saturday.
Yellow cards for the Lions contingent of flyhalf Gianni Lombard, prop JP Smith and centre Henco Van Wyk derailed an impressive first-half performance from the tourists who fell to a 17-7 reverse in the French capital.
The Lions will now travel to Wales where they will be determined to pull out of a four-match slump in a must-win Challenge Cup showdown against Dragons.
In Paris, the visitors struck first in a physical start to the first half as No 8 Emmanuel Tshituka crashed over off the back of a powerful driving maul with Lombard adding the extras.
? HEAAAAVVVEEEE ?@LionsRugbyCo are first on the board ?
? Watch LIVE on @francetvsport, @beinsports_FR, @SuperSportTV, @ViaPlaySportsUK and @FloRugby#ChallengeCupRugby pic.twitter.com/OyZ8GkSFie
— EPCR Challenge Cup (@ChallengeCup_) January 14, 2023
On a team warning and under pressure from a Lions’ counter-attack, Stade Francais centre Alex Arrate’s attempted steal was deemed illegal by referee Adam Jones and he was shown a yellow card for repeated team infringements.
Despite numerous elementary mistakes from the French, the Lions’ error-rate and inability to convert opportunities saw them settle for a 7-0 lead at the break.
Stade Francais got on the scoreboard seven minutes into the second half when flyhalf Joris Segonds slotted a penalty.
The second yellow card of the match was shown to the Lions’ Lombard after tackling a player in the air, and a third was shown shortly after, this time dealt to Lions prop JP Smith. Lock Willem Alberts put in a crunching hit on Francais flanker Julien Ory, and Smith was deemed to have made head contact with Ory as the second tackler.
Segonds slotted the resulting penalty to bring Francais within a single point.
With the Lions two men down, consistent pressure from the hosts resulted in a try when replacement hooker Laurent Panis finished off a driving maul at the start of the fourth quarter to give Stade Francais the lead for the first time.
? ????? PARISIEN
Le voilà le maul parisien pour un essai en force et aplati par notre Titi Laurent Panis ? On est devant !#SFPvLIO | ? 11 – 7 ? | 61’ pic.twitter.com/dXEB0evTyq
— Stade Français Paris (@SFParisRugby) January 14, 2023
A penalty from Francais replacement flyhalf Arthur Coville extended the lead to 14-7, and it went from bad to worse for the Lions when centre Henco Van Wyk was shown yellow for collapsing a maul.
The hosts kept working away at the Lions’ try-line in the final minutes but were forced to settle for another penalty that Coville slotted to give Stade Francais a 17-7 victory.
Photo: Dan Mullan/Getty Images