C'est magnifique! Dragons RFC produced one of the biggest European results in the club’s history as they stunned Top 14 giants Stade Francais Paris in the French capital.
The Men of Gwent made the trip to the French capital eager to evoke memories of the famous 2014 triumph over the Parisians and upset the odds to move forward in the knockout stages.
And the Stade Jean Bouin was rocking to cheers from the travelling faithful who witnessed a sensational EPCR Challenge Cup victory for Filo Tiatia’s men.
Dragons had surged into a stunning 17-0 lead in the first quarter with tries form Angus O’Brien and Brodie Coghlan.
Stade, though, hit back with a quickfire brace before he interval from centre Samuel Ezeala to cut the lead to three at the break.
A topsy turvy second half as both teams trade the lead with Elliot Dee keeping Dragons in it before a staggering heart-stopping finale.
The final word of the game saw Dragons show stunning composure and keep the ball alive before Wyn Jones blasted over to signal wild celebrations in Paris.
Stade flew out the traps in the opening two minutes, but Dragons held firm with Ben Carter winning an early penalty to halt momentum and quieten the crowd.
A first away attack saw David Richards skip past two men from deep and chip into space and when Thomas Young was illegally nudged off the ball the penalty was given. O’Brien pointed to the posts and made no mistake.
The full back then opened the scoring in sensational fashion as he cut a sublime line from deep, stepped the final man and dived over. He picked himself up to convert his own score.
Dyer looked to inject further pace from out wide after a drilled flat pass from Aneurin Owen as Dragons continued to silence the dominate early territory and possession.
A sublime 50:22 from Tinus de Beer set up the next wave of attack before O’Brien kicked in behind and forced Stade to hurriedly hack into touch.
The resulting driving maul was shunted up close by the forwards and Coghlan dotted down from close range to send the away support into dreamland. O’Brien added the extras.
Seb Davies replaced Levi Douglas at the midpoint of the half before the all-action Young stripped ball in tackle after big home pressure.
The home side were slowly building up a head of steam, but they were finding Dragons hard to break down as twice they were rocked back as they went for the line.
Second row Saterki Turagacoke had a try ruled out by the TMO after he was just short with a lunge, but patience finally paid off for Stade when centre Samuel Ezeala scored two minutes before the break.
And with the final play of the half, the home midfielder was sent over from an offload in the tackle as the lead was cut to just three in a flash.
A third home try arrived five minutes after the break as Number Eight Yoan Tanga burst into a line and scored to put Stade ahead for the first time.
Dragons, though, were not done as Coleman crashed over from close range and O’Brien took us level again as the game continued to be played on a knife edge.
Ezeala scored a power packed third of the game but again the visitors refused to buckle with a powerful maul crashing over courtesy of Dee to cut the lead to two points.
A frantic final ten saw O’Brien just miss with a long range penalty before unbelievable scenes in the final seconds as Jones scored and Paris rocked to the Dragons beat.
Timeline:
05m O’Brien p 0-3
09m O’Brien t O’Brien c 0-10
20m Coghlan t O’Brien c 0-17
38m Ezeala t Foursans-Bourdette c 7-17
40m Ezeala t Foursans-Bourdette c 14-17
45m Tanga t Foursans-Bourdette c 21-17
52m Foursans-Bourdette p 24-17
58m Coleman t O’Brien c 24-24
63m Ezeala t Henry c 31-24
69m Dee t 31-29
80m Jones t O’Brien c 31-36
Stade Francais: Mathis Ibo, Charles Laloi, Joe Marchant, Samuel Ezeala, Lester Etien, Louis Foursans-Bourdette, Paul Abadie, Jack Iscaro, Lucas Peyresblanques, Yanis Lux, Pierre-Henri Azagoh, Setareki Turagacoke, Juan-Martin Scelzo, Ryan Chapuis, Yoan Tanga
Replacements: Alvaro Garcia Albo, Thierry Paiva, Paul Alo-Emile, Pierre Huguet, Romain Briatte, Thibaut Motassi, Tani Vili, Zack Henry
Dragons RFC: Angus O’Brien, David Richards (Paea 58), Fine Inisi (Anderson 77), Aneurin Owen, Rio Dyer, Tinus de Beer, Niall Armstrong (Lloyd 66); Rodrigo Martinez (Jones 40-41,57), Brodie Coghlan (Dee 53), Chris Coleman (James 71), Levi Douglas (Davies 24), Ben Carter, Ryan Woodman, Thomas Young (Keddie 51), Aaron Wainwright
Replacements: Elliot Dee, Wyn Jones, Owain James, Seb Davies, Harrison Keddie, Morgan Lloyd, Fetuli Paea, Huw Anderson
Referee: Morne Ferreira (SA)
