Matt Sherratt's Cardiff punished in Paris by Stade Francais

Cardiff were blown away in the second half as they began their European Challenge Cup campaign on the wrong end of a 38-17 defeat to Stade Francais.

Although the hosts struck first when Mathis Ibo crossed in the corner after some sustained pressure, a much-changed Cardiff side responded well and were level when Harri Wilde and Matty Young combined well before speading it for Iwan Stephens to finish off.

And they took a 10-5 lead in the 34th minute as Wilde and Young teamed up again, with the latter getting the try for a lead that held until half-time.

But things changed rapidly after the break, with Stade needing just a few seconds to retake the lead as Tanginoa Halaifonau cut through the defence and Louis Foursans-Bourdette converted for a 12-10 advantage.

Ibo crossed in the corner for his second try in the 51st minute and moments after Stephens was narrowly denied a third Cardiff try, Stade took total control as Thibaud Motassi charged forward before offloading to Juan Martin Scelzo.

Fixture

Challenge Cup

Stade Francais

38 - 17

Full-time

Cardiff Rugby

All Stats and Data

Lester Etien capitalised on an error from Wilde to set up Foursans-Bourdette for a fifth try and as Cardiff heads dropped, Charles Laloi added another before Javan Sebastian scored a late try for the visitors.