Cards and scraps a plenty as Racing 92 beat local rivals Stade

Racing 92 set up a Champions Cup quarter-final against Sale as they came from behind to beat Stade Francais 33-22 on Sunday.

The victory gave the hosts a 55-31 aggregate win, but they had to come from behind to make sure of it, with the visitors 22-13 up at half-time to close the deficit to three after Racing’s 22-9 triumph in last week’s first leg.

Stade Francais had come out determined to undo last week’s damage, scoring early tries through Telusa Veainu and Adrien Lapegue to take a 15-3 lead, but a 35th-minute red card for Sefa Naivalu changed the equation.

Wenceslas Lauret pulled one back for Racing before Lapegue responded, but a second-half brace from Teddy Thomas, and a second for Lauret, sealed the win.

It was a red-blooded contest between the two Parsian side, with more than its fair share of off-the-ball incidents. One scrap in the 52nd minute after a  challenge after the whistle saw the majority of players from either side bail into an all-in-tussle.

additional reporting PA