Stade Francais full-back Jerome Porical did his chances of adding to his four France caps no harm with an impeccable kicking display to help his side into the final of the Challenge Cup.
The 27-year-old landed six of his seven kicks at goal in the dramatic 25-22 win over Perpignan at Stade Aime Giral, including a huge winning kick from almost 60 metres to tie the scores late on.
Porical, who comes from Perpignan and made more than 100 appearances for the club before leaving for Stade Francais at the start of the season, then outdid himself with the winning penalty from in excess of 50 metres that bounced off the post and crossbar before bouncing over.
“Jerome Porical had a really great match and every kick was important because it was so close,” said Stade skipper Sergio Parisse.
“I wasn’t sure what the score was when he told the referee he wanted to kick for goal because I knew they had scored two tries to our one.
“We didn’t play very well – and certainly not as well as we did in Bath. We missed a lot of opportunities, especially in the first half, but we’re happy to be going to Dublin.
“We were a bit unlucky in the final against Harlequins a few years ago and that defeat is still in our minds. We have worked hard to reach another final, but we will enjoy this win first before we start thinking about Dublin.”
It was an emotional evening for Porical, who made his France debut in 2010, but has since missed out despite France’s underwhelming RBS 6 Nations display in 2013.
In 2009, he was successful with five out of five attempts at goal as Perpignan won the Top 14 final 22-13 against Clermont.
Stade Francais coach Christophe Laussucq added: “I’m very happy for him [Porical]. This was a big game for him to come back to Perpignan but it could not have gone better.
“He scored a wonderful try, kicked the winning points and was man of the match even with the crowd whistling at him.”
