The Ospreys face French giants Stade Francais at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium on Sunday (5.45pm KO) and here’s all you need to know about the Parisians.
A brief history
Established in 1883, Stade Francais have a long and proud history as one of the leading clubs in France.
The team participated in the first French championship final in 1892, losing to Racing Club de France (now Racing Metro), gaining revenge in the following year’s final. They then featuring in every championship in succession until 1899, successful in 1894, 1895, 1897 and 1898.
From 1899 through to the 1908 season Stade Français would contest the championship final on seven occasions against Stade Bordelais, winning in 1901 and again in 1908 as well as defeating SOE Toulouse in 1903.
They would not make another final appearance until 1927, when they lost to Toulouse, after which the club’s decline saw them spend over 50 years in the lower divisions of French rugby.
The team returned to the top division in 1995 and captured their first title since 1908 when they defeated Perpignan 34-7 three years later.
In what was to become the second golden era for Stade the club then won five more league titles between 2000 and 2007, as well as twice reaching the Heineken Cup Final, where they were defeated by Leicester (2001) and Toulouse (2005).
Having finished runner-up in the Challenge Cup twice at the start of this decade, Stade claimed their first league title in eight years in 2015.
Honours
French Top 14
Champions (14): 1893, 1894, 1895, 1897, 1898, 1901, 1905, 1908, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2015
Runners-up (7): 1896, 1899, 1904, 1905, 1906, 1907, 1927, 2005
Heineken Cup
Runners-up (2): 2000–01, 2004–05
European Challenge Cup
Runners-up (2): 2010–11, 2012–13
Coupe de France
Champions (1): 1999
Runners-up (1): 1998
In the squad
Willem Alberts (South Africa)
Will Genia (Australia)
Aled de Malmanche (New Zealand)
Heinke van der Merwe (South Africa)
Pascal Papé (France)
Sergio Parisse (Italy)
Rabah Slimani (France)
Morné Steyn (South Africa)
How they got there – Stade’s route to the last eight
Round one: Harlequins 43 – 21 Stade Francais
Round two: Stade Francais 27 - 0 Timisoara Saracens
Round three: Edinburgh 28 – 23 Stade Francais
Round four: Stade Francais 26 – 20 Edinburgh
Round five: Timisoara Saracens 0 – 28 Stade Francais
Round six: Stade Francais 27 – 17 Harlequins
Stade finished in second place to qualify as third best runner-up and eighth seed
Recent Form – Stade in the T14
26/03 Stade Francais 17 – 11 Toulon
11/03 Lyon 35 – Stade Francais 33
5/03 Stade Francais 32-9 Bordeaux-Begles
18/02 La Rochelle 37 – Stade Francais 18
They played for Stade
Lionel Beauxis (France)
Felipe Contepomi (Argentina)
Christophe Dominici (France)
James Haskell (England)
Digby Ioane (Australia)
Regan King (New Zealand)
Agustín Pichot (Argentina)
Ospreys v Stade Francais – Past Results
23/10/05 Ospreys 13-8 Stade Francais
20/01/06 Stade Francais 43-10 Ospreys
28/10/06 Stade Francais 27-14 Ospreys
14/01/07 Ospreys 22-22 Stade Francais
Tickets for Sunday's Challenge Cup quarter-final are priced at just £10, £5 for U16s, and can be purchased now from the Liberty Stadium Ticket Office, the WRU Ticket Office on Westgate Street and online from www.ospreysrugby.com/buytickets