Stade Francais v Treviso: Champions Cup preview
By Keith Moore
Last Updated: 20/12/15 5:15pm
Stade Francais will keep their quarter-final hopes alive if they beat visiting Treviso in Paris on Saturday.
The French side racked up a bonus-point victory in Italy last weekend to pick up their first win in Pool 4 after losing to Leicester in the opening round.
Another bonus-point win over the Guinness PRO12 outfit would leave them well-placed ahead of the final rounds of fixtures in January, which will include a rearranged game against Munster.
Australian scrum-half Will Genia has found his feet in France, and feels he is beginning to make real progress with his new side.
"I was a little rusty because I had not played for a month and had suffered a knee injury in the World Cup final and I had to learn the calls and moves, which was a little more difficult as they were all in French," said the Wallaby.
"But I am feeling better and better and the adaptation is not proving that hard as Stade like to move the ball around just like we did with the Wallabies. They like to have the ball and move."
Genia's half-back partner Jules Plisson is enjoying the service he gets from Genia, saying the quality of the Australian's passing makes his job easier.
"His pass goes at 100 mph and it make it very nice when you are standing at fly-half because you never wait for the ball and that sort of thing can make a big difference," said the France international.
"With a half a second extra to make decisions it is a lot easier to attack, he just fizzes the ball at you, he rarely misses the player the pass is targeted for.
"The last thing you want to have to do is to slow down, or slow your step to take a pass as it means there is no fluidity. With Will, I just have to reach out with my hands and I know the ball is going to be arriving there."
Treviso are still in search of their first Champion's Cup victory of this season's campaign.
Stade Francais: 15 Hugo Bonneval, 14 Josaia Raisuqe, 13 Geoffrey Doumayrou, 12 Jonathan Danty, 11 Djibril Camara, 10 Morné Steyn, 9 Julien Tomas; 1 Emmanuel Felsina, 2 Laurent Sempéré, 3 Rabah Slimani, 4 Hugh Pyle, 5 Paul Gabrillagues, 6 Raphael Lakafia, 7 Sylvain Nicolas, 8 Sergio Parisse (c).
Replacements: 16 Laurent Panis, 17 Zurabi Zhvania, 18 Paul Alo Emile, 19 Gerhard Mostert, 20 Jonathan Ross, 21 Clement Daguin, 22 Herman Meyer Bosman, 23 Waisea Vuidarvuwalu.
Benetton Treviso: 15 Simone Ragusi, 14 Andrea Pratichetti, 13 Enrico Bacchin, 12 Alberto Sgarbi, 11 Tommaso Iannone, 10 Jayden Hayward, 9 Christopher Smylie; 1 Alberto de Marchi, 2 Roberto Santamaria, 3 Salesi Manu, 4 Marco Lazzaroni, 5 Tom Palmer, 6 Marco Barbini, 7 Alessandro Zanni (c), 8 Abraham Jurgens Steyn.
Replacements: 16 Davide Giazzon, 17 Matteo Zanusso, 18 Rupert Harden, 19 Filo Paulo, 20 Marco Fuser, 21 Robert Barbieri, 22 Samuel Christie, 23 James Ambrosini.