ALL BLACK WINGER Ben Smith was sent off on his Pau debut as his team went down 21-18 to Top 14 strugglers Stade Francais.
Smith, capped 84 times by New Zealand, was shown a red card by referee Alexandre Ruiz in the 51st minute for an elbow-led fend that left Stade hooker Lucas Da Silva prone.
Pau took an early lead, Antoine Hastoy hitting two penalties either side of a Siegfried Fisi’ihoi try.
But the Parisians hit back with tries either side of half-time from Arthur Colville and Quentin Bethune, Joris Segonds converting one and adding three further penalties.
There was drama until the end, however, as Pau captain Lucas Rey crossed for a 72nd-minute try, converted by Tom Taylor.
But bottom-placed Stade held on for just their third victory of the season, while Pau return home with the consolation of having picked up a losing bonus point.
Bordeaux-Begles face La Rochelle (3.30pm) and Toulon take on Clermont (8pm) in today’s two other games.
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