Previewing The Parisian Challenge

Read the form guide and get the pre-match thoughts of captain CJ Stander and winger Keith Earls as Munster travel to Paris for this weekend’s must-win Champions Cup encounter against Stade Francais at the Stade Jean Bouin – KO 4.45pm (Irish).

Munster and Stade will face-off in the European Cup for the fifth time on Saturday, although this will mark the first time the two meet in the Pool stages having previously played three quarter-finals and one semi against each other.
 
The men in red claimed the bragging rights in three of these four fixtures, however in reality there was far less between the sides than this stat might suggest with no more than five points – the proverbial bounce of a ball – separating them on three of those occasions.
 
Munster’s tough task on the road this weekend is illustrated in Stade’s impressive home record in which they have won 36 of 38 home European Cup games.  That said, one of the few who can provide insight on what it takes to beat the Frenchmen at their own abode is Head Coach Anthony Foley who himself started for Munster in one of Stade’s two home European defeats – the 2002 Heineken Cup quarter-final.
 
Captain Sergio Parisse and his teammates have averaged more tries (5.3), metres made (528) and clean breaks (13) than other side in this season’s tournament, possessing threats across the park.  Through the backs, they have countered effectively to score five tries off of kick-returns, while up front they remain one of the most imposing packs in the competition and are one of only three units yet to lose a scrum against the head this season.
 
In looking ahead to this weekend’s clash captain CJ Stander commented, “You could almost say that Stade were similar to us, struggling in the last few matches and then we got a win over Ulster and they won against Toulouse.  That just shows what can happen in rugby, you make a few mistakes and the other team can just punish you.  
 
“Stade have a great team and had been going at 99% but leading up to this weekend they have hit 100% and we saw that when they beat Toulouse.  That was massive for them, especially at home.  We’re playing them at their home also and they will be massively up for it.  It will be physical and exciting with guys like Parisse – you never know what he’s going to do.”  See more from CJ in our latest video below.
 
Winger Keith Earls added, “December was a tough month but there was a bit of a buzz back again after we beat a good Ulster side who are probably one of the best attacking teams in the PRO12.  We’re essentially into knock out rugby this weekend, lose and we’re out of Europe so the pressure is on but we’re excited by that challenge too. 
 
“Stade have played a few more games since the postponed fixture date so we’ve done more homework on them again but I think the main thing is ourselves. That’s what happened last week, we concentrated on ourselves while obviously looking at Ulster too, but the main focus was on us and what we needed to work on.  I think the same applies this weekend, if we get our roles right then we can achieve good results.”
 
Match Officials
Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)
Touch Judge 1: Sean Brickell (Wales)
Touch Judge 2: Jon Hardy (Wales)
TMO: Derek Bevan (Wales)
Citing Commissioner: Douglas Hunter (Scotland)
 
Team Comparison in the European Cup