The Stade Français came close to achieving a feat, but it escaped with nothing, after a bitter standoff. This Saturday at Jean-Dauger, he shook Bayonne, undefeated on home soil for a year and a half. Before cracking, on the gong, the fault of a try from Lucas Paulos transformed by Joris Segonds (80th + 1, 35-34).
A week after snatching a draw against Racing 92 (20-20) – Louis Carbonel had converted Giorgi Melikidze’s try in stoppage time – Stade Français narrowly missed achieving a big blow. But, while waiting for the other matches of the day, he had to come to terms with this cruel defeat which demoted him to 7th place in the championship, overtaken in particular by Castres, winner earlier of Lyon, and by… Bayonne.
However, Stade Français had done the hardest part by taking the advantage in the last ten minutes, on a billiard shot. Tanginoa Halaifonua blocked a clearance and scored a try, converted by Louis Carbonel (73rd, 28-34).
An unbreathable crossover
The first half was also very lively, with three tries on each side. The most spectacular of them was signed Bayonne, who covered 90 m in a few seconds between the restart of Herschel Jantjies and the try flattened by Mateo Carreras (27th, 22-17).
Trailing by 8 points in the 38th after a penalty converted by Bayonnais (and former Parisian) Joris Segonds (25-17), Stade Français came closer just before the break. For this, he was able to count on the test of his pillar Sergo Abramishvili and the transformation of Louis Carbonel (40th, 25-24).
Stade Français relied on the success of its opener Louis Carbonel to take the lead after a penalty 30 m away (45th, 25-27). The second successful one in the match, in addition to three transformations.
But around ten minutes later, Joris Segonds responded and Bayonne took the points at the end of a big sequence (58th, 28-27). The standoff continued, until the last ten minutes under high tension and a defeat for the Parisians by a tiny margin.
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