French Top 14 round six: Stade Francais continues to struggle in loss to Brive
Brive was able to come away with an upset on the road in Paris against Stade Francais over the weekend.
Stade Francais struggled for the third week in a row, losing to Brive at home in their round six match-up. Stade looked like the better team early on as they managed to take a five point lead into halftime. Francais continued to push the ball early in the
second half; however Brive was able to battle back late and take an exciting 29-27 victory.
Recap
Brive got on the board first with two consecutive penalties from Mathieu Belie in the 6th and 10th minutes respectively. The two scores gave the guests an early 6-0 lead.
Nevertheless, Stade Francais battled back with a try in the 12th minute from winger Ollie Phillips. Lionel Beauxis struck the penalty to give the home team a slim 7-6 advantage.
Belie answered back with his third penalty in just 18 minutes, giving his team the lead at 9-7.
However, Francais continued to pound the ball and were able to come away with their second try of the match, this time from Sergio Parisse, in the 20th minute. Beauxis passed through for the conversion and Stade took the lead again at 14-9.
Beauxis and Belie exchanged penalties to end the half, allowing Stade Francais to take a 17-12 lead into halftime.
After the break Stade came out strong, with a try and conversion from Martin Rodriguez Gurruchage in the 42nd
minute, extending the lead to 24-12.
Beauxis tacked on his second penalty of the game to push the advantage out to 27-12.
However, Brive began to find their game late, first with a try from Antonie Claassen in the 60th minute and the conversion from Belie to make it 27-19. Then Julien Caminati passed through a penalty to cut the lead to 27-22. Finally winger Ronnie
Cook darted over the try-line in the 77th minute. Belie hit the clutch conversion and storming back to upset Stade Francais 29-27.
Analysis
Stade Francais has now dropped three straight games after starting the season unbeaten. Their ability to score has never been in question, however they will need more on defence if they hope to get back to the top of the table.
Brive remains at .500, but continues to show great offensive upside. If they are able to put up impressive offensive numbers like they did in round six they could be due for a move up the ladder.
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