“I felt a great defensive investment” from the players in the last 20 minutes of the match, said Racing 92 coach Stuart Lancaster after the victory on the Stade Français pitch (13-9).

In a match where Stade Français chased the score for a long time, the Racingmen were very solid in defense in the last 20 minutes, notably contesting several balls into touch.

“It was nice to see that the players expressed a sort of passion for the defensive act this evening,” said Stuart Lancaster after his first Ile-de-France derby.

At the end of the match, “we showed our character and the resilience of our forwards who were also able to recover important balls in the last minutes”, added scrum half Nolann Le Garrec whose performance Stuart Lancaster praised “ of international level.

“This is the best match I’ve seen from Nolann. His ability to lead the game in difficult conditions is excellent, his kicking game too and he also made very good decisions with the ball in hand,” he added.