Stade trounce Newcastle

Stade Francais 48 Newcastle 8

Stade Francais cruised into the Heineken Cup semi-finals by crushing Newcastle 48-8 at a sold-out Parc des Princes today.

The French champions scored seven tries – Olivier Sarramea (3), Mathieu Blin (2), Julien Arias and Raphael Poulain touching down – and outclassed Newcastle had no answer.

Falcons full-back Matt Burke scored all his team’s points through a penalty and late try, but Stade now march on to a semi-final clash against Biarritz or Munster later this month.