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Pau send Stade Francais packing as Falcons fly into semis
Defending champions Stade Francais were knocked out of the European Challenge Cup in a thrilling quarter-final as Top 14 rivals Pau claimed a 35-32 victory.
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Stade are battling against relegation from France’s top flight in the midst of a miserable campaign, but came close to pulling off a remarkable fightback against a Pau side jockeying for a play-off spot in the same division.
Pau reached the quarters as the top seed having won all six of their pool matches and they led 27-14 at the break thanks to tries from Jale Vatubua, Benson Stanley and Thibault Daubagna.
Jules Plisson converted a penalty after the restart and then converted a Djibril Camara try to cut the gap to three points, but Quentin Lespiaucq crossed to re-establish Pau’s command.
Plisson and Tom Taylor then traded penalties before Marvin O’Connor went over a minute from time for Stade, who ran out of time to complete a turnaround as Pau set up a semi-final clash with either Edinburgh or Cardiff Blues.
? @SectionPaloise 35-32 @SFParisRugby
? 79 minutes gone… pic.twitter.com/WgPaN7Q3Fg
— EPCR Challenge Cup (@ChallengeCup_) March 30, 2018
Newcastle Falcons’ excellent season continued as they breezed into the semis with a 25-10 win over Brive.
The Falcons, who are fourth in the Premiership as they bid to secure a place in the play-offs, edged the first half at Kingston Park before finding another gear in the second to progress to the last four.
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Fly-half Toby Flood struggled with the boot, knocking over just one conversion, but set up three of Newcastle’s four tries in an instrumental performance.
A pair of magnificent passes saw him lay on a brace for Alex Tait as the Newcastle’s own 100 per cent record in the competition was maintained, with Connacht or Gloucester awaiting them in the semis.
Semi-final spot ? #ChallengeCupRugby pic.twitter.com/ecH8H5qTN8
— EPCR Challenge Cup (@ChallengeCup_) March 30, 2018
