Racing beat Stade in Paris derby

Racing Metro took the few chances they had to edge Stade Francais 32-22 in the Paris derby on Saturday and move ahead of their rivals in the hunt for a Top 14 play-off spot.The win put Racing into the top six qualifying places with 60 points, two ahead of Stade, with the teams seemingly heading in different directions.Racing scored three tries, with one conversion and five penalties from Irish fly-half Jonathan Sexton, while Stade had two tries from Fiji winger Waisea Vuidravuwalu to go with three penalties and a drop goal.Stade applied the early pressure and a drive from France captain Pascal Pape looked to have set up a try in the sixth minute, only for Springbok fly-half Morne Steyn to float a long pass that allowed Benjamin Fall an interception from which he ran the length of the pitch to touch down.Sexton converted to make it 7-0, but it was Stade who continued to dominate despite almost handing another interception try deep in Racing territory to Welsh centre Jamie Roberts.Vuidravuwalu had a try disallowed after 19 minutes for having a foot in touch, but it was Steyn who opened the Stade scoring with a penalty from 40 metres out five minutes later.But once again against the run of play, Racing broke clear to score a second try after 28 minutes.The visiting backs recovered the ball from a messy line-out near the halfway line and stretched the Stade defence with a fine interchange of passes between Sexton and Roberts.The ball was worked back to the right and South African lock Juandre Kruger smashed through two tackles to score in the corner.Sexton added two penalties with Steyne nailing a drop in between them to make it 18-6 at half-time for the visitors.Stade made a storming start to the second half. Direct from the kick-off, scrum half Maxime Machenau dallied with his clearing kick and when he did try to pull the trigger, Vuidravuwalwho had closed him down to block the ball and touch down. Steyne missed a relatively easy conversion, leaving Racing with an 18-11 lead, but six minutes later he made no mistake with a penalty after Roberts had been penalised at a ruck.Sexton and Steyne exchanged penalties as the score moved on to 21-17 before Racing struck a vital blow with a third try after 66 minutes.A line-out infringement allowed Sexton to kick deep into Stade territory, setting up a multi-phase drive that ended in flanker Antoine Battut diving over in the corner on a pass from full back Juan-Martin Hernandez.Sexton again missed the conversion and he was at fault shortly afterwards when his missed tackle along the touchline allowed Vuidravuwalu to speed clear for his second try of the match, leaving the score at 26-22 for Racing.Stade pressed for a winner but two further penalties from Sexton sealed the victory for Racing. Source: AFP