Newport Gwent Dragons were swept off their feet as they crashed to a heavy five-tries-to-nil defeat at the hands of Stade Francais in Paris yesterday.

They have fallen from the top to the bottom of their Heineken Cup pool in just eight days, such is the topsy-turvy nature of their group.

The French champions avenged last week's defeat by the Dragons, and Leicester comfortably overturned their hiding by Ulster to hammer them in the return.

The Dragons have now got to put their French lesson behind them and maintain fortress Rodney Parade against Leicester next week if they are to keep alive their European interests.

It will be difficult as they were outplayed by Stade Francais yesterday.

Had it not been for the mighty efforts of Percy Montgomery with his huge line-kicking and defensive effort, it could have been worse.

Having said that, controversial Italian referee Giulio de Santis gave the Dragons nothing. He yellow-carded three players, all of them Dragons, and all of them harshly. Jason Forster, Hal Luscombe and Adam Black were sin-binned.

The last try was also questionable, Stade captain and hooker Mathieu Blin appearing to strike the corner flag going over, while the penalty count was, at one stage, 8-0.

But Mike Ruddock will want to look at the set pieces and find out why the Dragons were in such trouble at the scrums, while the lineout didn't operate smoothly.

The backs looked pedestrian compared with their more skilful opponents, and the Dragons were without lock Ian Gough, who failed a late fitness test on his rib injury, Michael Owen moving up from number eight, with Ross Beattie and Jamie Ringer playing in the back row.

Several hundred supporters followed the Dragons to Paris, some wearing the new Dragons colours.

Posters advertising the game circulated the city, urging: "Don't fear the Dragons," and a healthy-sized crowd turned out, blaring music adding to the atmosphere, with Dragons directors Tony Brown and Martyn Hazell among the crowd.

The opening stages were confined almost entirely to the Stade half as the Dragons moved the ball through the phases, but the French threatened the first time they had the ball, Brian Liebenberg prominent.

The Dragons stopped the move with a deliberate knock-on and Diego Dominguez promptly put Stade ahead with a penalty against the run of play.

A second penalty followed after 12 minutes from the hugely popular outside-half after Rod Snow was pulled up for a high tackle.

But Dominguez missed another when he shot out of the blocks from a scrum a bit too quickly. Stade still kept coming, and it took a fine tackle by Jamie Ringer and superb covering and kicking by Percy Montgomery to keep the line intact.

The first sign of trouble came when the rival front rows clashed before Montgomery pushed Stade back with a spiralling kick.

But there was no stopping Stade scoring their first try after 25 minutes. Dominguez set his three-quarters moving right from a line-out, and Christophe Dominici appeared outside his centres from the other wing and flipped the ball on delightfully for full back Ignacio Corleto to sweep down the flank and behind the posts for a try which Dominguez converted.

Stade almost got another as Thomas Lombard broke clear, though only to be recalled for a forward pass.

Trouble erupted again, Ringer, Masconnet and Marchois involved, and, when Forster put in a high tackle, he was yellow-carded by the referee.

Stade made them pay when they wheeled the seven-man pack at a scrum, and number eight Pierre Rabadan pounced for an easy try, which Dominguez converted.

A third try followed a minute from the interval while Forster was still off, when Stade won a lineout, drove it, and Blin plunged across for Dominguez to again convert.

Beattie, who took a heavy knock in the first half, was replaced by Rhys Oakley for the second half. He promptly won a line-out, but Hal Luscombe dropped Lee Jarvis' pass.

Oakley also put in a fine tackle after a strong run by Gareth Baber, but the Dragons' efforts were laborious compared with Stade, who opened them up to score their fourth try, securing a bonus point.

Corleto broke through, handed on to Dominguez, who was stopped, only for the ball to come back and give Dominici acres of space to stroll over down the left.

The Dragons' scrum was in trouble, and Arasa did well to haul Marchois, twice his size, down near the line.

Montgomery yet again rescued the Dragons, running and kicking out of defence, before Ringer nearly scored.

Baber put in a telling kick which Ringer chased, but with no-one between him and the line, the ball rolled out of his reach.

But worse was to follow when Luscombe was yellow-carded for pushing over an opponent. The incident provoked an unnecessary reaction from the Stade players.

The Dragons replaced Arasa, Marinos and Snow with Nathan Brew, Steve Winn and Adam Black in a bid to revive their fortunes.

But Black didn't last long as he became the third Dragons player to be yellow-carded after he blocked replacement Skrela when he could hardly have got out of the way.

In the final minute the Dragons conceded their fifth try when Blin just made it to the corner after a drive by the pack, though he looked to have struck the corner flag first.

Stade Francais: I Corleto (R Poulain 61), T Lombard, S Glas (D Skrela 40), B Liebenberg (M Bergamasco 67), C Dominici, D Dominguez, G Mahe, S Marconnet, M Blin (captain), P de Villiers, P Tabacco, A Marchois, C Moni (R Jechoux 70), P Rabadan, R Martin. Scorers: Tries - Corleto, Rabadan, Blin (2), Dominici; Conversions: Dominguez (3); Penalties: Dominguez (2).

Newport Gwent Dragons: P Montgomery, G Arasa (N Brew 63), H Luscombe, A Marinos (captain) (S Winn 64), B Breeze, L Jarvis, G Baber (S Tuipulotu 74), R Snow (A Black 67), S Jones, C Anthony, M Owen, P Sidoli, J Ringer (R Snow 75), R Beattie (R Oakley 40), J Forster.