LONDON Irish recorded a memorable 44-7 victory at Stade Francais on the night Topsy Ojo broke the club’s all-time appearance record.

Ojo clocked up his 281st Exiles appearance to beat Justin Bishop’s previous record.

And the 32-year-old winger celebrated in style with a brace of tries in Paris as Irish romped to a bonus-point victory in the European Challenge Cup.

Exiles got off to a flyer from the very start and scored three tries within the opening 15 minutes to go 19-0 ahead.

It took just six minutes for Conor Gilsenan to dot down from close range following a smart offload from Ollie Hoskins.

Ojo notched his first of the game just two minutes later when he pounced on a chip ahead before crossing the whitewash, with Theo Brophy-Clews adding the extras.

Exiles extended their lead again on 13 minutes when Ojo intercepted a looping pass inside his own 22 before sprinting the length of the field to score another converted try.

But Exiles soon had to dig deep after Ben Meehan was sin-binned for a professional foul midway through the first half.

Stade were q1uick to punish the 14-man visitors when No.8 Bakary Meite barrelled over from the base of a scrum, with Jules Plisson slotting the conversion to make it 19-7.

However, they were Stade’s only points of the game as Irish went on to claim a fourth try before the break to secure the bonus point, with Meehan darting over on the blindside having just returned ot the field.

Brophy-Clews missed the conversion but the visitors led 24-7 at the interval to the dismay of the home supporters.

As expected, Stade Francais came bursting out of the blocks for the second half, but Irish’ resilient defence stood firm to soak up the pressure.

And Nick Kennedy’s men reaped the rewards in the final 10 minutes by scoring three more unanswered tries.

Lovejoy Chawatama powered over from close range in the 71st minute then Joe Cokanasiga broke the Stade line before sending Ben Ransom over in the corner.

There was still time left for scrum-half Scott Steele to add his name to the scoresheet when he pounced on a loose ball before touching down to complete a stunning victory for the visitors.

Stade Français Paris: Geraghty (Steyn 54), Nayacalevu, Williams, Danty, Yobo, Plisson (Ensor 59), McLeod (Coville 52), El Ansari (Zhvania 54), Bonfils (c) (Gau 63), Alo-Emile (Cittadini 63), Gabrillagues, Flanquart (Di Giovanni 45), Burban (Francoz 56), Pyle, Meite.

London Irish: Ransom, Cokanasiga, Fowlie, Williams (Mulchrone 71), Ojo (c), Brophy Clews (Atkins 77), Meehan (Steele 54), Elrington (Smallbone 65), Woolstencroft (Gleave 71), Hoskins (Chawatama 66), Lloyd (McNally 71), Paulo, Northcote-Green (Curtis-Harris 44, Northcote-Green 52), Gilsenan, Lomidze.

Referee: Vlad Iordachescu.

Attendance: 7,224.