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Stade Francais vs Dragons Predictions - Stade Francais to down the Dragons

Brad Newcomb

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Last updated: 1 hour ago

Brad Newcomb 1 hour ago

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Stade Francais have won 10 of last 12 home games.
Dragons face a 16-game away losing streak but eye an upset.
Stade Francais are favoured to cover the handicap.

Stade Francais have been in excellent form at home this season (Getty Images)

Stade Francais had a solid EPCR Challenge Cup pool stage qualifying campaign, and they have been in excellent form at home this season. The Dragons had mixed results during the qualifiers and are in poor form away from home.

Stade Francais have won 3 consecutive fixtures (Top 14).
Stade Francais have won 10 of their last 12 home games in all competitions.
The Dragons have lost 4 of their last 5 fixtures (URC).
The Dragons have lost 16 consecutive away matches in all competitions.

Head to Head

The Dragons have the advantage with two victories to none against Stade Francais.

Stade Francais Form

Stade Francais performed well during their EPCR Challenge Cup Pool 3 campaign. They beat Cardiff 38-17 at home, the Cheetahs 45-22 away, and Exeter 27-25 at home before losing 26-19 to Ulster away.

Stade Francais have contested two home fixtures in the Top 14 since making the knockout rounds. They defeated Perpignan 42-21 and Clermont 64-20.

Stade Francais will fancy their chances against the Dragons, as their opponents have been in poor form away from home recently, and they have recorded ten victories in 12 home games.

Dragons Form

The Dragons were in decent nick during their EPCR Challenge Cup Pool 2 fixtures. They lost 41-17 to Perpignan away, defeated Lyon 23-21 at home, and lost 74-21 to Benetton away before beating Newcastle 35-12 at home.

The Dragons have played four away matches in the URC since those results. They lost 22-20 to Munster, 19-13 to the Ospreys, 29-21 to the Stormers, and 42-26 to the Lions.

The Dragons must find a way to turn their fortunes around on their travels, having suffered 16 consecutive defeats away from home, although they have beaten Stade Francais twice before.

Team News

Stade Francais

Louis Foursans-Bourdette has slotted 12 conversions and one penalty in this edition of the European Challenge Cup.

Thibaut Motassi has scored three tries in the competition so far.

Dragons

Head Coach Filo Tiatia has stated that he believes his team can cause an upset victory against Stade Francais: “There is belief in the group and what we have been working on.

“The leadership group has been great to work with and there is no point putting a jersey on and going out without belief.

“We have grown in this competition. Our first away game was against Perpignan. We weren’t at our best and we took some learnings around what we needed to shift on,” added Tiatia.

“We looked at cohesion and how we imprint our game model to where we know it can be.

“We made some changes around the building and habits we needed to change. The group has shifted together.”

Rio Dyer and Brodie Coghlan have signed new deals to remain at the Dragons.