Leicester Tigers hold on for a dramatic Champions Cup win over Stade Francais

Dylan Coetzee
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Leicester Tigers players during a game.

Leicester Tigers players during a game.

Leicester Tigers held off a late surge from Stade Francais to win 24-27 in Paris in the Champions Cup on Sunday.

The Premiership side scored all their tries through one source as hooker Archie Vanes bagged a hat-trick on the night with two of those coming in the first period whilst Jamie Shillcock kicked three conversions and two penalties.

The hosts managed tries through Mathieu Hirigoyen, Charles Laloi and Leo Barre as fly-half Joris Seconds nailed three conversions and a penalty in a losing cause.

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It was Vanes who opened the scoring in the clash after seven minutes with Shillcock adding the extras from the tee taking Leicester to an early lead. The hosts did not take long to respond with Hirigoyen going over for a converted try on the 15-minute mark.

The scoring slowed down as the teams looked to find momentum in the game before Segonds added three points for the hosts. However, Tigers responded quickly with Vanes scoring his second on the stroke of half-time with Shillcock once again adding the conversion.

Stade Francais’s team talk worked immediately as Laloi scored just one minute into the second period. Typical of the clash, the Tigers hit back as Vanes completed a memorable hat-trick in the 53rd minute. Shillcock would convert and add two penalties split by Barre’s converted try for Stade Francais by the 66th minute.

There would be no further score in the game as Stade Francais turned down a kickable penalty late on to go for the win. However, an impressive Tigers defensive set sealed the win.

Stade Francais: 15 Leo Barre, 14 Kylan Hamdaoui, 13 Joe Marchant, 12 Jeremy Ward, 11 Charles Laloi, 10 Joris Segonds, 9 Hugo Zabalza, 8 Mathieu Hirigoyen, 7 Romain Briatte, 6 Sekou Macalou, 5 Baptiste Pesenti, 4 Paul Gabrillagues, 3 Paul Alo-Emile, 2 Mickael Ivaldi, 1 Clement Castets
Replacements: 16 Lucas Peyresblanques, 17 Moses Alo-Emile, 18 Francisco Gomez-Kodela, 19 Pierre-Henri Azagoh, 20 Stephane Ahmed, 21 Jules Gimbert, 22 Ryan Chapuis, 23 JJ van der Mescht

Leicester: 15 Charlie Atkinson, 14 Anthony Watson, 13 Dan Kelly, 12 Solomone Kata, 11 Mike Brown, 10 Jamie Shillcock, 9 Tom Whiteley, 8 Kyle Hatherell, 7 Matt Rogerson, 6 Hanro Liebenberg (c), 5 Sam Carter, 4 George Martin, 3 Joe Heyes, 2 Archie Vanes, 1 James Cronin
Replacements: 16 Finn Theobold-Thomas, 17 James Whitcombe, 18 Will Hurd, 19 Harry Wells, 20 Emeka Ilione, 21 Joe Powell, 22 Kieran Wilkinson, 23 Phil Cokanasiga

Venue: Stade Jean Bouin, Paris
Kick-off: 18:30 local (17:30 GMT)
Referee: Nike Amashukeli (Georgia)
Assistant Referees: Saba Abulashvili (Georgia), Shota Tevzadze (Georgia)
TMO: Matteo Liperini (Italy)

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