Stade FranÃ§ais flattered in Paris

Editor 10 Feb 2008 1:28 PM

Stade FranÃ§ais beat Brive 36-7 at their home ground of Stade Jean-Bouin on Friday night, a flattering win for the home side who were outplayed in the first half. But they simply took over the second half.

The change was obvious for all 12,000 spectators and many television viewers to see. In the first half the Parisians had bumbled while Brive were lively and enterprising. That floral Stade FranÃ§ais were only 7-6 down seemed unfair to Brive's effort – a try and a conversion by flyhalf Luciano Orquera after some great interplay to two penalties by Lionel Beauxis.

It was not the weather that made the difference. It was chilly all right but there was hardly a breeze and there was no rain. The field was not in good condition but it did not suddenly improve at half-time. It was not the playing conditions that made the difference. It was the play.

Perhaps it was the intervention of Stade FranÃ§ais' owner Max Guazzini. For the first time in a year he went down to the changing room at half-time and told his side that their behaviour was “inadmissible”.

Maybe it was that. Perhaps it was the injury to Beauxis's right ankle late in the first half that forced Juan MartÃn HernÃ¡ndez to move in from inside centre to his much favoured flyhalf position. This brought Guillaume Bousses into the midfield.

Maybe it was the introduction early in the second half of props Rodrigo Roncero and Sylvain Marconnet. The scrumming during the match had not been great with Stade FranÃ§ais enjoying the upper hand but in the second half they simply destroyed the Brive scrum as a scrum is seldom so humiliated.

Of four successive Brive scrums they won one with a wheel and three with tightheads. Those two experienced men seemed to have a salutary effect on the line-outs as well. Where Stade FranÃ§ais' line-outs had been haphazard in the first half, they became comfortable and secure in the second. Same hooker, same locks, different props.

Losing Antonie Claasen in the first half with an injury to his right leg, did not help as the young South African No.8 had been a star performer.

With the Stade FranÃ§ais forwards on top in the second half, replacement scrumhalf Terry Bouhraoua, on for injured JÃ©rÃ´me Fillol, had a field day.

In fact that Stade FranÃ§ais scored only three tries in a second half which they totally dominated was silly, but then they were set more on winning the match than scoring a bonus point. When, for example, they had a really hot attack from which they would surely have scored, they opted instead for a simple little dropped goal by HernÃ¡ndez to take the score to 22-7.

Stade FranÃ§ais scored first when Beauxis goaled a penalty after just five minutes. He then increased the lead to 6-0 with a second penalty. Both penalties were from scrum infringements.

Brive's try followed brilliant work down the short side on the left with a great burst by Alexandre Manta. It was carried on by Farid Sid who played inside to Orquera who went darting over under the posts, for a try which he converted. Half-time came at 7-6.

Then came the complete change in fortunes. It took just two minutes for Stade FranÃ§ais to establish a lead through a penalty by HernÃ¡ndez. 9-7. They were from then on never in danger of defeat.

Gradually their confidence grew and with it their handling improved. Their try was a delight of simplicity. They won a line-out on their right and rushed the maul metres ahead before releasing to Bouhraoua. He gave to HernÃ¡ndez who gave a superb pass to Bousses who was drifting slightly to his left. The centre burst between Farid Sid and Ben Cohen, raced downfield, drew Nicolas le Roux and sent Nicolas Jeanjean on an easy run to the line. HernÃ¡ndez kicked the easy goal. 16-7.

HernÃ¡ndez hit the pink upright with an easy penalty attempt but then goaled one and kicked a drop. 22-7 with about six minutes to play.

From just inside the Brive half Bouhraoua broke and gave to Arnaud Marchois who galloped ahead with the ball and gave to his skipper Pierre Rabadan for a try at the posts. 29-7.

Stade FranÃ§ais attacked again as Bouhraoua produced the great break of the night as he carved straight through the Brive defence from five metres outside his 22. He seemed certain to score himself till flank Vincent Forgues got him from behind five metres from the Brive line.

From a five-metre scrum HernÃ¡ndez gave to Bousses and the centre scored a try he had no right to score but he was well assisted by feeble defence by Cohen. The television match official confirmed the try which HernÃ¡ndez converted.

The victory moves Stade FranÃ§ais into second place where they will stay if Perpignan beat the much weakened Clermont Auvergne side.

Scorers:

For Stade FranÃ§ais:
Tries: Jeanjean, Rabadan, Bousses
Cons: HernÃ¡ndez 3
Pens: Beauxis 2, HernÃ¡ndez 2
Drop: HernÃ¡ndez

For Brive:
Try: Orquera
Con: Orquera

Teams:

Stade FranÃ§ais: 15 Nicolas Jeanjean, 14 Julien Arias, 13 Geoffroy Messina, 12 Juan MartÃn HernÃ¡ndez, 11 Julien Saubade, 10 Lionel Beauxis, 9 JÃ©rÃ´me Fillol, 8 Pierre Rabadan (captain), 7 RÃ©my Martin, 6 Antoine Burban, 5 Boela du Plooy, 4 Cliffie Milton, 3 David Attoub, 2 Damien Weber, 1 Franck Montanella.
Replacements: 16 Rodrigo Roncero, 17 Sylvain Marconnet, 18 Arnaud Marchois, 19 Simon Taylor, 20 Terry Bouhraoua, 21 Guillaume Bousses, 22 JÃ©rÃ´me Jacquet

Brive: 15 Nicolas le Roux, 14 Farid Sid, 13 Ronnie Cooke, 12 Sukanaivalu Hufanga, 11 Ben Cohen, 10 Luciano Orquera, 9 GrÃ©gory MahÃ©, 8 Antoine Claasen, 7 Vincent Forgues, 6 Alex Manta, 5 Vincent BernabÃ², 4 Fabien Domingo (captain), 3 Pierre Capdevielle, 2 Jean-Philippe Bonrepaux, 1 Petrisor Toderasc
Replacements: 16 Jawad Djoudi, 17 Kevin Buys, 18 Charl van Rensburg, 19 Simon Azoulai, 20 Jean-Baptiste PÃ©joine, 21 Benjamin Dambielle, 22 Barry Davies

Referee: Bernard Dal Maso
Touch judges: Jean-Paul Vermande, Didier Barnagaud
Assessor: Jean-Marie Peyramaure, Daniel Pruvot
Television match official: Eric Soulan

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