Stade Francais, who finished last season one point above the Top 14 relegation places, kicked off the French club rugby season on Saturday by romping to a 47-24 victory over promoted Montauban.

"Last year was difficult for a lot of the lads. But this season is a new opportunity for the whole team," said home coach Paul Gustard.

In later games, Bayonne, who finished fourth last season, held off a frenzied late assault to claw out a 26-19 victory in Perpignan, Lyon thrashed Racing 92 32-7 and Pau eked out a 17-15 win at Castres.

Stade started brightly under the sun in Paris, striking in the first eight minutes with tries by Joe Jonas and Baptiste Pesenti.

Montauban responded by gambling on flinging the ball about. They were rewarded with tries by Josua Vici and Kyllian Ringuet to pull to within two points after 30 minutes.

Their handling errors repeatedly presented Stade, who were much slicker in their passing, with possession.

Yoan Tanga Mangene, Louis Carbonel, summer recruit Tawera Kerr-Barlow and Lucas Peyresblanques touched down for the hosts between the 36th and 56th minutes.

Winger Yvan Reilhac rewarded the visitors' bravery with two late tries but another of Stade's summer recruits, Tani Vili, earned the hosts a bonus point by finishing off a flashy passing move in the 74th minute.

Carbonel failed to convert the last try but goaled the first six to finish with 17 points.

"Conceding seven tries over the long term is not sustainable," said Montauban's Reilhac. "The attack is there, we really need to get our defence sorted."

Perpignan, who finished a point below Stade last season but saved their Top 14 place with a 77th-minute penalty kick in a relegation playoff in Grenoble, could not repeat their late heroics against Bayonne.

The visitors raced to a 10-0 lead in the first 20 minutes but Perpignan scored twice in the last three minutes of the half to lead 14-10.

A converted try and two penalties put Bayonne ahead by 12 points with 14 minutes remaining.

Perpignan attempted another late rally. Duncan Paia'aua touched down with eight minutes left, but Bayonne held off an increasingly desperate final home assault.

Racing 92, who overhauled their squad in the summer, had a disastrous first half in Lyon, conceding three tries and Samuel James collected a yellow card as they trailed 25-7 at the break.

The second half showed moderate improvement, with Lyon only touching down once despite two Racing players being sent to the sin bin.

"When you lack discipline and concede 19 penalties, that means you find yourself 19 times in your own half and therefore not in your opponents' (half)," said Racing coach Patrice Collazo. "We also picked up three yellow cards. That's a bit of a concern."

Castres scored two tries while Pau only scored one but four penalties by Joe Simmonds gave the visitors a gritty two-point win.