Racing 92 defeated Parisian rivals Stade Français 33 – 20 to secure a place in the semi-finals, where they will face Stade Toulousain.  

Stade Français were forced to play with 14 men for 75 minutes, having seen their Argentinean international star Marcos Kremer shown a red card.  

Kremer’s attempted clear-out of Scottish international Finn Russell was reckless and left the referee with no choice but to send the Puma from the field.  

Stade Francais and Argentinean international back row Marcos Kremer was shown a red card for making contact with the head of Finn Russell inside the first five minutes of the @top14rugby quarterfinal 🟥#Top14 #Racing92 #StadeFrancais #FrenchRugby #Top14Quarterfinal pic.twitter.com/mp8xWTydY6

— FloRugby (@FloRugby) June 3, 2023

Racing would then take control of proceedings to score two tries, firstly through Kremer's international teammate Juan Imhoff. 

Los Pumas star Juan Imhoff shows incredible strength to get Racing92 over the line for a second try in the Top 14 quarterfinal! 🔵⚪️🔥#Top14 #stadefrancais #racing92 #top14quarterfinals #FrenchRugby pic.twitter.com/e1EvElU3NN

— FloRugby (@FloRugby) June 3, 2023

Next up, it would be French international backrow Wenceslas Lauret, who would score from close range. 

Unlock this video, live events, and more with a subscription!

Sign Up

Already a subscriber? Log In

Despite being a player down for 75 minutes, Stade Français put their local rival under immense pressure.  

At one point, Racing had two players in the sin-bin as Stade Français scored two tries to bring the scores back to 17 – 17.  

First, it would be French international backrow Sekou Macalou who brought Stade back into the fixture with a powerful maul try. 

Sekou Macalou brings Stade Français back into the game with a powerful try 👀#SFPR92 #Racing92 #StadeFrancais pic.twitter.com/gd5NkTEWGT

— FloRugby (@FloRugby) June 3, 2023

Firmly in the ascendancy, Stade would strike again. This time on the stroke of half-time as scrummaged Racing into the ground to secure a penalty try. 

The @top14rugby is wild!

A red card for Stade Français inside five minutes and a 17 - 3 deficit midway through the first half.

Fast forward to half-time, and it is 17 - 17 with Racing 92 having two players in the sin bin 👀#SFPR92 #racing92 #stadefrancais pic.twitter.com/kYeS7KsHgM

— FloRugby (@FloRugby) June 3, 2023

The second half was less of a contest as Racing returned to 15 players on the pitch, whilst Stade was shown a yellow card to go with their red.  

Down to the 13 men, Stade simply ran out of gas as their rivals punished them, with Russell landing three penalties before Gael Fickou scored a late try to confirm the result.