Stade Francais reach Cup final

GEORGE Ford missed a last-gasp penalty for Bath as Stade Francais won 28-25 yesterday to reach the European Challenge Cup final.

Jules Plisson had given Stade the lead in Paris with a nerveless drop goal 30 seconds from the end of a pulsating match.

It was not finished there, though, as Bath piled forwards and forced a penalty – yet from wide out on the left, Ford missed and Stade will play Gloucester in the Edinburgh final on May 12.

Gloucester beat French Top 14 leaders La Rochelle 16-14 on Saturday night. Stade and Bath put on a stunning display of attacking rugby at the Jean Bouin Stadium in the French capital and the most dramatic of finales.

Yet, there was little indication in the first half of what would come later as Stade took control early on through Geoffrey Doumayrou’s try that helped them to an 11-6 half time lead.

Plisson took a perfectly weighted pass from Australian international scrumhalf, Will Genia, to score under the posts on 48 minutes, converting to give Stade an 18-6 lead.

Two minutes from time, Stade broke from inside their own 22, with Djibril Camara brushing off a weak tackle by Anthony Watson and then passing inside for Australian lock Hugh Pyle to score.

Plisson dissected the posts and it was all square again.

Stade regained the ball from the restart and drove straight up the field for Plisson to knock over the winning points.

Yet, still the game was not over, with Bath reclaiming the restart and after Watson and Rokoduguni failed to turn a two-on-one chance into a try, Stade gave away a penalty.

Nerves of steel were required, but Ford’s effort faded to the right and Stade’s celebrations began.

On Saturday, Billy Burns scored all of Gloucester’s points to inflict a first home defeat of the season on La Rochelle.