Bristol Brew up famous win

Bristol produced an heroic performance to topple Stade Francais 17-0 at the Memorial Ground.

In wet and windy conditions, the home side turned to their powerhouse pack to send the French side to a shock defeat.

Having been brushed aside so comprehensively by Cardiff in their opening match, few outside the west country would have given Bristol a chance against the star-studded visitors.

Stade had looked so convincing in their victory over Harlequins the previous week, but they found the power of Bristol just too much.

With England hooker Mark Regan leading the way with a typical 'in-your-face' display, Bristol never gave Stade the chance to settle.

Regan's front-row colleagues of Jason Hobson and Alex Clarke also got in on the act to rattle the French, Andrew Blowers and Dan Ward-Smith were immense in the back row, while Sean Hohneck was outstanding in the lineout.

A collapsed scrum on 17 minutes gave Bristol the opening points. Despite having the put-in five metres from their own line, the Stade pack was sent shooting backwards before hitting the turf.

Cool

A flare up between both packs ensued, with no surprise to see the pitbull terrier that is Regan at the centre of it. However David Hill kept his cool to slot over the penalty.

Regan received another warning on 27 minutes as the hooker continued to get under the skin of the opposition, but three minutes later it was 6-0 with another Hill penalty.

That is the way the score stayed until the hour-mark, with Hill slotting over a decisive penalty.

The French champions attempted to find a way back into the match, however the Bristol defence and resolve remained unbreakable.

And it was the home side who scored the only try with three minutes left, when Neil Brew intercepted in his own half and exchanged passes with Rob Higgitt before scoring in the corner.

Hill missed the conversion, but he tagged on a late penalty to complete a memorable win.