The French champions were taken apart in a first half in which they conceded three tries. There were warning signs from the first minute; Tom James thought he had scored in the corner only for referee Wayne Barnes to call play back for a forward pass. But the Blues were rampant and it didn’t take long them to assert their authority on the match.
Boss Dai Young said, “That has put us back on the map and in a great position to do well. Now the boys will believe they can do well in this competition.
“We came into Europe wanting to make a statement and we’ve done as well as we could have hoped for. Now we have to keep backing it up.
“We have shown how far we have come as a region and proved the doubters wrong that we can compete at this level.”
The Blues deserve to revel in this win that put them top of Pool Three but Young was desperate to sound a note of caution to his players with two crucial pool games remaining against Harlequins and Bristol next month.
Young said: “We will enjoy this win but we can’t afford to get carried away otherwise we’ll fall flat on our face. We’ve got two massive games left in the pool and we don’t want this to be another false dawn. We haven’t won anything yet and that’s the clear message I will keep repeating to the players.”
Flanagan’s late drop goal denied Stade a losing bonus point but the Blues failed to nail down one of their own despite scoring three tries inside 43 minutes.
Young said: “A bonus point was in the back of everyone’s minds but the most important thing was to win. It was pretty nail-biting at the end before the drop goal.
“Stopping Stade from getting a losing bonus point could have a massive bearing at the end of the Pool in terms of qualification.”
