And the final whistle sounds, drawing this thrilling encounter to a close at the Stade Jean-Bouin. Although not the most glamorous of rugby matches, Stade Francais will certainly be happy to leave with the 4 points. Scrappy play dominated the 80 minutes of rugby coupled with problems at the scrum and breakdown but sturdy defence on either side kept the try count down. The visitors may consider themselves rather unlucky with 3 missed place kicks early in the first half of the game, but may be somewhat fortunate to clinch that losing bonus point right at the depth. But that concludes this evening's coverage of this tightly-fought encounter which saw Stade edge out their opponents Brive by 25-18, hope you enjoyed it!

Why??

Try for Brive! Relentless pressure from the visitors and subsequent penalties gives Cedric Marchat no option but to brandish the yellow card. Taulafo the guilty party on this occasion. Having turned down a shot at goal on numerous occasions, the visitors finally crash over the opposition line. Ribes, the try scorer! Laranjeira adds the extras to set up a thrilling final 10 minutes. 25-18 to Stade!

Try for Stade! Some excellent vision from fly-half Plisson sees him burst through the Brive defence to set up Bosman who touches down for Stade's first try of the evening. Porical steps up and adds the extras, thus extending the lead to 14. Stade now lead 25-11.

Penalty for Stade! Once again, Brive are penalised on the ground. Captain Parisse opts to go for the posts and full-back Porical makes no mistake with the place kick, thus extending his side's lead to 7 points. 18-11 to Stade.

Penalty for Stade! Failing to roll away at the breakdown sees referee award the penalty to the home side only 25m out. Porical is successful with attempt and thus restores Stade's lead back to 4 points. 15-11 to Stade.

Penalty for Brive! Just the start that the visitors were looking for. Problems at the breakdown sees the visitors awarded with a penalty 38m out. Gaetan Germain steps up and takes up where he left off with his previous attempt and slots the ball between the uprights and thus reduces the deficit to a single point!

And referee Cedric Marchat blows his whistle drawing this tightly-contested half to a close. Both teams will surely be looking to improve in the next 40 minutes having failed to string any real phases of play together. Gaetan Germain will certainly be looking to press on from his last successful kick having really struggled with the boot in the opening half hour of the game. Similarly, Germain's opposite number, Porical, will equally be looking for some consistency with the boot with a few wayward place kicks in the opening 40 minutes of the game. With a 4 point gap - the next score is undoubtedly going to be crucial so be sure to stay tuned to the second half of coverage!

Penalty awarded to Brive right on the stroke of halftime! The full-back, Germain, steps up to land his first kick of the game (1 from 4) and reduces the deficit to 4 points going in at the break! Crucial score for the visitors!

Repeated Brive ill-discipline at the breakdown leaves referee Cedric Marchat no option but to award the penalty to Stade. Porical however, is unsuccessful with the attempt and sees his place kick drift to the right. The scores remain at 12-5.