PARIS — Dragons defeated Stade Français 36-31 in a European Challenge Cup last-16 match in Paris after Wyn Jones scored a try in the final minute to secure the victory. The Welsh side will face an away quarter-final against Zebre next Saturday at 20:00 BST.

Dragons opened the scoring with a penalty from Angus O'Brien before the fly-half crossed for the first try from a line-out. Brodie Coghlan added a second try from a driving maul as Dragons built a 17-0 lead in the opening quarter against a Stade side that sits third in the French Top 14 and had defeated Clermont Auvergne 64-20 the previous weekend.

Stade rallied before the break. A try by lock Setareki Turagacoke was disallowed following a television match official review for short grounding, but Samuel Ezeala crossed twice just before half-time to narrow the deficit. Dragons held a three-point advantage in the second half before Yoan Tanga scored for the hosts, and Coghlan then conceded a penalty for a high tackle that Louis Foursans-Bourdette converted to put Stade ahead.

Chris Coleman scored a try for Dragons that O'Brien converted to level the scores. Ezeala then completed his hat-trick with a third try for Stade to restore the home side's lead. Elliot Dee answered with a try for Dragons, though O'Brien missed both the conversion and a late penalty, leaving the visitors trailing heading into the final moments.

Jones then crossed in the last minute. O'Brien finished with a 16-point haul from four conversions and one penalty, while Foursans-Bourdette kicked 12 points for Stade. Thomas Young provided turnovers for Dragons during the match, and Levi Douglas was replaced by Seb Davies.

The match was Dragons' first away win of the 2025-26 season, with their previous victory on the road coming against Newcastle in December 2024. Dragons sit 15th in the United Rugby Championship, while their quarter-final opponents Zebre, who beat Pau 31-15, are the bottom club in the same competition.

Dragons made three changes to their starting side for the match, with Tinus de Beer, David Richards, and Douglas returning. Rhodri Williams and Che Hope were ruled out, while Niall Armstrong was passed fit to start and Morgan Lloyd was named on the bench. Stade named 10 survivors from their Clermont win in the matchday squad, including England centre Joe Marchant, after winning three of four pool games to earn fourth seeding for the knockout stages.

Cardiff and Ospreys were eliminated from the Challenge Cup after refereeing decisions in matches against Benetton and Ulster, while Scarlets failed to emerge from the Champions Cup group stages, leaving Dragons as the sole remaining Welsh representative in European competition. South African referee Morne Ferreira officiated the match, assisted by Griffin Colby and Christopher Allison, with Marius Jonker serving as television match official.