Victory a bonus for Stade

Stade Francais opened their Heineken Cup campaign with a 31-7 bonus-point victory over Edinburgh.

The French side flew to the top of Pool Four after a four-try rampage in a convincing opening win over their Scottish opponents.

First-half tries from Julien Arias, Sergio Parisse, Tom Palmer and Lionel Beauxis ensured an extra point before the half-hour was finished in Paris.

Edinburgh put on an improved display in the second period but didn't make it on to the scoresheet until the last ten minutes, with Ben Cairns gaining a late consolation try.

Lucky break

Luck played a part in Stade's opening try when Edinburgh centre John Houston was turned over and right wing Arias picked up the scraps to launch a counter-attack from his own half.

The Frenchman beat Edinburgh fly-half Phil Godman on the outside and touched down with ease before Julien Dupuy added the conversion.

Stade claimed their second try just two minutes later when Italian number eight Sergio Parisse crashed over in the right-hand corner.

Palmer strolled through the challenge of Allan Jacobsen to add a third converted try by scrum-half Dupuy to make it 21-0 to the home side.

The hosts kept up the pressure in a thrilling opening half and were rewarded with the bonus point when Beauxis touched down in the 29th minute.

The fly-half added the extras himself, and the home side went into the break with an intimidating 28-0 lead.

The visitors emerged from the break with renewed determination and put on a spirited display throughout the second half.

Sweeping changes

Stade head coach Jacques Delmas began to make sweeping changes with Dupuy, Antoine Burban and Sylvain Marconnet being taken off for the remainder of the game.

Replacement scrum-half Noel Oelschig added a solitary penalty but with the number of changes, the intensity understandably dropped.

Edinburgh were rewarded for their improvements when Cairns combined with centre partner Nick de Luca to ensure they were not whitewashed for only the fourth time in the Heineken Cup.

Edinburgh face Ulster at home next weekend looking to get their campaign back on track, while Stade travel to The Rec to take on Bath next Sunday.