Stade Francais in Paris penalizes Paris’s undisciplined Lions

Saturday in Paris, the Lions were punished for their lack of discipline as they fell 17-7 to Stade Francais in the third round of the Challenge Cup.

The South African team dominated the first half, but only led 7-0 at the break as No. 8 Emmanuel Tshituka’s try was converted. The failure to convert possession into points haunted them after halftime as yellow cards and penalties accumulated.

French Stade flyhalf Laurent Panis added a try after Joris Segonds was replaced by Arthur Coville, who also converted two penalties.

Stade Francais escaped with a miraculous escape in the ninth minute as Gianni Lombard missed a kickable penalty for the Lions.

However, five minutes later the South Africans seized the lead when Tshituka scored from wide out from a driving maul, and Lombard added the extras for a seven-point advantage at the half.

In the second half, the hosts overcame Alex Arrate’s yellow card and regained three points via Segonds’ first penalty kick in the 47th minute.

In the 52nd minute, flyhalf Lombard was the first Lions player to receive a yellow card. Two minutes later, prop JP Smith followed him into the sin bin.

Stade Francais then capitalized with Segonds’ second penalty kick, and they took the lead for the first time with Panis’ score off a driving maul at the hour mark.

Additionally, the Springbok and Blitzbok bolster the Lions’ Challenge Cup matchup in Paris.

Segonds missed the convert, but it was irrelevant because the Lions committed another infraction in the 66th minute, and Coville penalized them.

Two minutes later, the Lions conceded their third yellow card when center Henco van Wyk was dismissed, and Coville kicked his second three-pointer to leave the French club tied with the visitors on eight points but in fourth position.

On January 22, the Lions will travel from Paris to Newport, Wales, where they will face the Dragons.

Challenge Cup LIVE results – Stade Francais versus Lions

STADE FRANCAIS VS LIONS CHALLENGE CUP SCORERS AND TEAMS:
Stade Francais – Try: Laurent Panis. Joris Seconds (2) and Arthur Colville are penalized (2).
Try: Emmanuel Tshituka for the Lions. Conversion: Gianni Lombard.

Stade Francais — Kylan Hamdaoui (#15), Nadir Megdoud (#14), Theo Dachary (#13), and Alex Arrate (#12). eleven Stephane Ahmed 10 Joris Segonds, 7 Mathieu Hirigoyen, 6 Julien Ory, 5 Sitaleki Timani, 4 Nathan Huguen, 3 Vincent Koch, 2 Lucas Peyresblanques, 1 Moses Alo Emilio.

Subs: 16 Laurent Panis, 17 Vasil Kakovin, 18 Paul Alo Emile, 19 Marcos Kremer, 20 Juan Martin Scelzo, 21 Paolo Odogwu, 22 Arthur Coville, 23 Pienasi Dakuwaqa,

Lions — 15 Andries Coetzee, 14 Quan Horn, 13 Henco van Wyk, 12 Marius Louw (captain), 11 Edwill van der Merwe, 10 Gianni Lombard, 9 Morné van den Berg, 8 Emmanuel Tshituka, 7 Emile van Heerden, 6 Jaco Kriel, 5 Darrien Landsberg, 4 Willem Alberts, 3 Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 2 PJ Botha, 1 JP Smith.
Subs: 16 Michael van Vuuren, 17 Rhynardt Rijnsburger, 18 Ruan Smith, 19 Ruhan Straeulis Sibusiso Sangweni (20), JC Pretorius (21), Andre Warner (22) and Manuel Rass (23).