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Stade Francais fly-half Vincent Mallet insists there is no need for the French side to panic after losing their European Rugby Challenge Cup Pool 3 opener. - 24/10/2014 10:46
Stade Francais fly-half Vincent Mallet insists there is no need for the French side to panic after losing their European Rugby Challenge Cup Pool 3 opener.
The Top 14 outfit were beaten by the Newport Gwent Dragons at Stade Jean Bouin, with the Welsh visitors picking up a bonus point in the process.
The result puts Stade on the back foot as they travel to Romania for Saturday’s game against Bucharest Wolves. But Mallet is confident he and his team-mates can bounce back and feels it is too soon to count anyone out of advancing to the knock-out stages.
He said: “Losing the first game does not necessarily mean we cannot advance, we will take the games one after the other.
“We lost our first home game so we must now only think about winning this weekend. We have got to get the job done.
“But the results only count come the end of the pool stage when everyone has played six games, we'll see how things look after that.
“Newport Gwent Dragons are not immune to suffering a home defeat against another team as well, which could allow us to be back in the battle for the pool.”
Bucharest have never advanced beyond the pool stages of a European competition, and were well-beaten by Newcastle in their first game.
But Mallet knows they will be a different proposition on home soil in Romania as they target a famous victory over their illustrious visitors.
He said: “This will be complicated. We simply have to start the game well because this is a team that bases its season around their three home games in Europe.”
Match Facts
- These two sides have met each other four times in the Challenge Cup – during the pool stages of the 2010/11 and 2011/12 seasons the Parisians triumphing in each game.
- Stade Francais’ average winning margin in those four games was 26 points.
- Stade Fracais Paris’ loss against Newport Gwent Dragons last week meant they have lost consecutive games in the Challenge Cup for the first time since 2002/03.
- Bucharest Wolves’ Luke Samoa assisted two tries in their game last week – more than any other player in the game between Bucharest Wolves and Newcastle Falcons.
Très décevant lors de la réception des Newport Gwent Dragons
Australian wing Digby Ioane scored his first try in Europe competition to rescue Stade Francais from a tricky situation in Romania.
Nothing seemed to go right for the top-14 side in the first half at the bitterly cold Arcul de Triumf. Things looked to get event worse in the second half when the snow began to fall but despite their bright start, Bucharest were not able to build on their early 6-0 lead and fell to a second successive defeat in pool 3.
It was the boot of Florin Vlaicu that gave the Romanians a dream start and the full-back could have made it 9-0 after 30 minutes but failed to convert a third successive penalty.
That allowed Stade back into the game and on the brink of half-time, a Morné Steyn penalty followed by Ioane's try spared Stade's blushes to put them 10-6 ahead.
Another penalty for the veteran Springbok Steyn put the away side seven points ahead shortly after half-time which looked to send them on their way to victory.
But Vlaicu's boot gave Stade cause for concern as the Romanians pressed for a try which would have gifted them a historic win.
Following last week's defeat at the hands of Newport Gwent Dragons, victory in Romania was vital for Stade, and despite a nervy second half, the French side held on and went home with the points.
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