Newport Gwent Dragons ease past Stade Francais

Newport Gwent Dragons have recorded a comfortable 38-22 victory over Stade Francais in their opening Challenge Cup match of the season.

The hosts racked up a strong early lead courtesy of four Vincent Mallet penalties, although Richie Rees and Rhys Thomas crossed over within four minutes of each other to turn the contest on its head.

A fifth Mallet penalty of the half ensured that the sides were level on points at the interval, but Hallam Amos touched down shortly after the restart to put the Dragons ahead.

Meyer Bosman added the French club's first try of the night on the hour, yet a hat-trick of second-half penalties from Angus O'Brien put Newport in command.

The pool 3 clash was put beyond doubt by Nick Cudd late on when he added try number four for the visitors, ensuring that a weakened Stade Francais outfit suffered defeat in their opening game of the European competition.