Paris (AFP)
Weaned from the Top 14 final phase since its last coronation in 2015, the French Stadium snatched the qualification by winning in Bayonne (12-9), Saturday during the 26th and final day.
This sixth consecutive success, combined with the defeat of Toulon in Castres (46-24) allows the Parisian club to seize sixth place in extremis.
Bayonne, after its defeat, descends to the penultimate rank, doubled on the wire by Pau winner of Montpellier (41-25), and will have to beat its Basque rival Biarritz (Pro D2) next Saturday to ensure its maintenance.
What an end of the season for the Stade Français!
Almost eliminated at the end of March after a defeat suffered in front of Clermont - the 11th of the season - the team of the capital accomplished an astonishing reversal of situation by winning the rest of its matches.
Six victories in a row, only Stade Toulouse did better, stacking eight successes from mid-November to mid-February.
At the Jean-Dauger stadium, no try was registered and the atmosphere was suffocating until the end.
The opener and scorer Joris Segonds, not comfortable in the first period in front of the poles (1/4), recovered after returning from the locker room.
He was the one who sealed the victory penalty with six minutes remaining.
And to think that the French Stadium was in last place at the end of the 2019-2010 season caused by the pandemic.
If the club of the capital has found the hair of the beast, it obviously owes it to its players but also to its staff, in particular to its Argentinian coach Gonzalo Quesada, the architect of the 2015 title, returned to the Parisian bench. 'last summer.
Sixth in the standings, the French club is now aiming for the semi-finals.
To do this, he will have to beat Racing 92 in Nanterre, in a derby in the Ile-de-France region which promises to be hot.
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