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Stade Francais coach Gonzalo Quesada is desperate for his side to turn a dismal run of form around at Benetton Treviso on Saturday. - 09/12/2015 10:51
Stade Francais coach Gonzalo Quesada is desperate for his side to turn a dismal run of form around at Benetton Treviso on Saturday.
The Parisians sit 11th in the Top14 after Bordeaux-Begles inflicted a sixth defeat of the season last weekend. Sergio Parisse’s men are also without a point in Europe after a defeat to Leicester Tigers in their only outing so far. But they will be sensing an opportunity to get off the mark against a Treviso side who are also winless in Champions Cup Pool Four following defeats to Leicester and Munster. And Quesada is hoping the two-time European Cup runners-up can get up to speed against the Italians.
He said: “It would have been terrible not to have a match this weekend after spending a day and a half sharing our suffering and trying to find an explanation after our defeat to Bordeaux. It’s good to have a game with high stakes to focus on and hopefully bounce back. We will play the European Cup in background. We still have a little dream of going to the quarterfinals. We saw images of how the team Treviso was solid at home. That's good. I hope we can play a quality rugby for 80 minutes in all sectors.
“Even though you know I'm trying to remain lucid, and have a cool head, I know the level my responsibilities. I have to control my emotions. But I admit that I struggled to hide my disappointment on Saturday night.Even if we are not in a climate of extreme confidence, it was agreed that there were improvements from several weeks ago.”
Treviso have added hooker Roberto Santamaria to their European ranks in place of Angelo Esposito. The Italians are without a win all season and are desperate to finally break their duck against a wounded Stade side.
Match Facts
- Stade Francais Paris have convincingly won both of the two Champions Cup clashes between these teams to date, outscoring Benetton Treviso 101-15.
- Benetton Treviso have won only one of their last 14 Champions Cup matches and conceded 30+ points in 10 of those fixtures.
- Benetton Treviso have won two of their last 22 matches against teams from France with those two victories coming by margins of 1 and 4 points.
- Stade Francais have won all six matches against Italian opponents in the Champions Cup, winning each by an average margin of 52 points.
- The French side made 14 clean breaks in their opening game of the competition, the joint most by any team in a single game this season.
Deux victoires bonifiées étaient requises face au Benetton Treviso pour espérer garder le printemps européen dans le viseur. La moitié du chemin a été parcouru en Italie où les Parisiens se sont baladés (50-17). - 12/12/2015 17:38
Stade Francais marked their arrival in this season’s European Champions Cup in style with a 50-17 thumping of Benetton Treviso in Italy.
A Parisian onslaught in the first 11 minutes saw Waisea Vuidarvuwalu, Julien Arias and Paul Williams cross to put the French side in the driving seat. The bonus-point was wrapped up soon after through Sylvain Nicolas, before captain Sergio Parisse and a second try from Williams wrapped-up the rout.
The Top14 champions have lift-off in this season’s Champions Cup after defeat to Leicester Tigers in round one.
Stade wasted no time in silencing the Stadio Comunale di Mongo crowd. The Parisians snatched an early lead with a penalty from Jules Plisson, before breaching the Italian defence. The ball was worked out wide to Vuidarvuwalu, and there was no stopping the Fiji international.
And it was to get even better for the visitors when Vuidarvuwalu’s wing colleague Arias got in on the scoring act. Plisson was on target again to secure a 17-0 lead after eight minutes. Stade’s free flowing game was at the fore. Centre Williams was the next man to go over, as the French side blitzed Treviso in the first 11 minutes to claim a 22-0 lead.
And they were not ready to slow down the scoring. Flanker Nicolas wrapped up the bonus-point inside the half-an-hour mark, before Bosman got into the act for Stade’s fifth before the break. Parisse so often leads from the front, and he was at the spearhead of the second-half charge to make it 43-0 after the break. It did not take much longer for them to rack-up the half-century, with Williams going over for his second score of the match.
Treviso finally got on the scoreboard after 58 minutes when Samuel Christie crashed over for a consolation score, and the game was done by the time Simone Ragusi and Marco Lazzaroni crossed.
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