Russell returns as Racing 92 hold on for bonus point victory against Connacht
Racing 92 defeated Connacht 26-22 in their Heineken Champions Cup opener in Paris as Finn Russell made his comeback from injury.
The Scotland stand-off had been out of action since dama g i n g h i s g r o i n i n t h e f i r s t h a l f o f t h e S i x Na t i o n s v i c - t o r y ove r Wal e s in October.
However, he played his part for the Parisians as tries from G e o r g e s - H e n r i C o l o m b e , K u r t l e y B e a l e , S e b a s t i e n Taofifenua and Dominic Bird, along with six points from the boots of Teddy Iribaren and Maxime Machenaud, secured a bonus point victor y for last season's beaten finalists.
Matt Healy, Alex Wootton and Conor Oliver claimed tries
i n L l a n e l l i for Connacht while Jack Carty and Tom Daly kicked seven points between them.
R a c i n g c r o s s e d f o r t h r e e tries in the opening half with Colomb e p owering his way over from short range before Virimi Vakatawa burst clear to put Australian great Beale over.
Their third tr y came when Russell’s long pass released Vakatawa who shipp ed the ball onto Taofifenua and the young wing scored with a sensational acrobatic finish at the far left-hand corner.
Healy touched down after a well-timed cross-kick from Car t y to cut the home side's advantage to 19-8 at the interval.
F o r m e r A l l B l a c k B i r d claimed Racing's bonus point tr y before an impressive late r a l l y f r o m C o n n a c h t s a w Wootton and Oliver cross to earn a losing bonus point.