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The top two in Challenge Cup Pool 4 clash on Saturday as Edinburgh Rugby host London Irish at Myreside. Edinburgh ran out 37-14 winners when they met in Round 2 at the Madejski Stadium. - 07/12/2017 15:06
In the final Challenge Cup match this weekend, Stade Francais will be looking to bounce back after a shock loss to Krasny Yar against London Irish, live on beIN Sports. The Exiles will also be hoping to recover from a defeat, having lost to Edinburgh Rugby 37-14 in Round 1.
· London Irish have now lost back-to-back games in the Challenge Cup, the last time they lost more in succession was a seven-game drought in 1996/97.
· Stade Francais finished the opening round with 15 clean breaks, the equal most of any team in the competition and five times as many as London Irish (3).
· Mathieu De Giovanni made nine more tackles (29) than any other player in Round 1.
Topsy Ojo in action for London Irish
A brace of tries from Topsy Ojo powered London Irish to resounding 44-7 victory over Stade Francais Paris, boosting their hopes of qualifying from Pool 4 in the Challenge Cup.
- The bonus-point win for the Exiles lifts them up to second in the Pool, five points adrift of runaway leaders Edinburgh, and level with Krasny Yar – albeit London Irish boast a far superior points difference.
- Ojo was the star of the show on a gloomy Parisian evening as the twice-capped England winger set a new record number of appearances for London Irish, running in two tries in the space of four minutes on his 281st outing for the club.
- It was Exiles flanker Conor Gilsenan who opened the scoring on five minutes, before Ojo increased the London Irish advantage three minutes later.
- No 8 Bakary Meite hit back with Stade's lone score of the night, converted by Jules Plisson, on 19 minutes, before Ben Meehan crossed before the half-time whistle as London Irish secured a bonus point.
- Lovejoy Chawatama, Ben Ransom and Scott Steele all ran in tries in the closing seven minutes to add a gloss to a fine Exiles performance, which thwarted a run of successive European defeats and bolstered their chances of reaching the knockout stages.
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