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England Men and Women trounce France in Toulouse
A full wrap of both weekend internationals played in France between the Tricolores and English nations with Rob McHugh.
England Women 42 def France Women 0
England (W) 42 (A. Davies 2, A. Hardcastle, Z. Harris, G. Hetherington, E. Partington, E. Rudge, P. Travis tries; I. Rowe 5 goals) defeated France (W) 0 at Stade Ernest Wallon.
Date: Sat, 29th June. Kickoff: 3:30 PM. Halftime: England (W) 20-0. Penalties: 4-all. Referee: Geoffrey Poumes.
France (W): Samarra, Himoudi, Song Puche, Vilanove, Ramazeilles; Roses, Diraison; Akpa (C), Pommier, Ségala, Legout, Bessiere, Bessahli. Int: Samuel, Monseratt, Kessely, Kuresa.
England (W): Hetherington, Partington, Beevers, Hardcastle, Davies; Harris, Rowe; Wood, Bennett, Hoyle, Travis, Rudge, Cunningham (C). Int: Mottershead, Whitfield, Hornby, Sykes.
England's women kicked off the doubleheader of mid-season internationals at Toulouse's Stade Ernest-Wallon with a comfortable win over France, thanks to a magnificent performance from 17-year-old Isabel Rowe of the Wigan Warriors.
France can be proud of their performance, which was more competitive than last year's 64-0 defeat and a sign that the game is beginning to move in the right direction in France.
England only needed four minutes to open the scoring, as Anna Davis opened the scoring on the right wing. Jodie Cunningham's pass cut out centre, Amy Hardcastle, finding Davis, who stepped inside off her wing to score. However, Rowe missed the conversion, so the score stayed at 4-0.
England extended their lead in the eighth minute, again cutting the left side of the French defence to shreds, as would become a theme on the day. Good play from Zoe Harris, who had an excellent game, released Amy Hardcastle who was too fast and strong for France's right-edge defence and she barged over to score. Rowe's kick hit the post, meaning that England's lead extended to 8-0.
York Valkyrie full-back, Georgie Hetherington, scored England's next try in the 22nd minute. Harris was the creator again, throwing the final pass to Hetherington as the French defence parted, allowing Hetherington to stroll through and score from close range. Rowe was on target with her first successful goal of the game to make the score 14-0.
Harris went from creator to scorer for England's next score in the 24th minute, as they scored back-to-back tries. However, all of the work was done in the build-up by Hardcastle, who held off two defenders, including a remarkable hand-off with her left arm, which sent a French defender flying. Hardcastle passed inside to Harris who scored a well-deserved try. Rowe was on target with the conversion to make the score 20-0, which is how it remained until half-time.
England quickly extended their lead in the second half, scoring in the 49th minute and Harris was involved again. Harris's bullet pass released Paige Travis, who barged over from close range. Rowe was on target with the kick to make the score 26-0 to England.
Davis scored England's next try, with England exploiting France's porous left edge once again. Hardcastle was involved again, drawing in the French defence who, by this stage, were so occupied with the threat of her running game, neglected to shut down the pass to the wing, giving Davis the space to score.
Eboni Partington scored England's penultimate try, this time down England's left wing. France will be disappointed with their effort in defence, with England playing the ball close to the touchline and exploiting the blindside, where Partington went through a gap in the defensive line to touchdown. Emily Rudge scored the final try of the night, taking in a short pass from the impressive Rowe to round off the scoring, and a good win for a confident England side.
England Men 40 def France Men 8
England 40 (A. Handley 2, T. Johnstone 2, J. Welsby 2, M. Nicholson, G. Williams tries; H. Smith 4 goals) defeated France 8 (F. Yaha try; A. Mourgue 2 goals) at Stade Ernest Wallon.
Date: Sat, 29th June. Kickoff: 6:00 PM. Halftime: England 18-8. Penalties: France 6-4. Referee: Tom Grant.
France: Mourgue, Yaha, Laguerre, Griffier, Miloudi; Rougé, Fages; Navarrete, Da Costa, Bousquet, Goudemand, Séguier, Garcia (C). Int: Tison, Chan, Sangaré, Maria.
England: Welsby, Johnstone, Wood, Newman, Handley; Williams (C), Smith; Thompson, O'Neill, Lees, Currie, Nicholson, Minchella. Int: Lewis, Harrison, Dupree, Wilson.
England eventually registered a comfortable win over France in a mid-season which was part of the celebrations of 90 years of Rugby League in France.
France came into the game on a run of 22 successive defeats and, although they eventually succumbed to a heavy defeat, there were moments early in the game where it appeared that they may pull off a shock.
After a fast start, France took an early lead. England debutant, Matty Nicholson, produced an error which gave France good field position. They took full advantage, as Arthur Mourgue kicked behind England winger, Ash Handley, and Fouad Yaha got on the end of the kick to produce a good finish, giving France an early lead. Mourgue kicked the extras to give France an early 6-0 lead.
England's forward pack was struggling to match the intensity of the French pack early on, as experienced duo, Romain Navarette and Julian Busquets set the tone in the early exchanges. When Luke Thompson was caught offside, it gave Mourgue a chance to extend France's lead, which he gratefully accepted, to give Les Bleus an early 8-0 led.
However, two excellent positional kicks from Harry Smith gave England their first real field position of the game and it did not take them long to take control of the contest. Full-back, Jack Welsby, who was England's best player on the night, scored their first try. Welsby broke down the short-side before offloading to winger Johnstone, who returned the ball to Welsby, who dived into the corner to score England's first try of the game. Smith kicked the goal from the touchline to bring England back within two points.
Welsby was then involved in the next England try, as they scored from back-to-back sets. Welsby passed to Harry Newman who ran at the French line and dummied, before eventually releasing the ball to Leeds Rhinos teammate, Handley, who bumped off defender, Mourgue, before scoring in the corner. Smith missed the kick, giving England a 10-8 lead, and putting them in front for the first time in the game.
England soon scored again, which was their third try in six minutes and Johnstone was heavily involved in the build-up again. Receiving the ball on the left wing, Johnstone cut inside, skirting his way around six French defenders before throwing a long, looping pass to Newman, who passed the ball out to Handley who touched down for his second try of the game. Smith was off target again, limiting England's lead to six points, at 14-8.
Johnstone then grabbed his first try of the night in the 32nd minute. England worked the ball well from left to right, before switching the direction of attack back to the left through the hands of Elliot Minchella, who impressed at loose forward, Smith and George Williams, who then floated a lovely pass out to Johnstone who scored a simple try. Smith's missed conversion meant England led 18-8 at halftime. England's greater strength off the bench had been instrumental in overcoming France's early onslaught.
The second half began scrappily, as both sides were slow to get into their stride. However, England opened their account in the 58th minute as youngster, Matty Nicholson atoned for his earlier error, getting on the end of a good kick through the defence to score an international try on debut. Smith missed another kick, but England were now in full control.
England only needed four minutes to score their next try of the game, as the influential Welsby scored his second of the night. The try was created by impressive second rower, Ben Currie, who broke through the line before passing to Welsby to score. Smith, who had something of a Jekyll and Hyde performance - brilliant in general play, but inconsistent from the kicking tee - was on target this time to put the result beyond any doubt.
Mikey Lewis started the game on the bench and was introduced in the unfamiliar position of hooker, but his natural running game added fresh impetus to the England attack. Lewis created a try for Williams, producing a brilliant step to break through the French line on halfway before passing inside to Williams for a simple score. Smith added the conversion to make the score 34-8 with six minutes to go.
There was still time for the impressive Johnstone to score a second try of the night, touching down with the final play of the game, stepping inside off his wing to score after good build-up play from Smith. Smith ended his night on a high, slotting the conversion from the touchline to round off the scoring for England. England will ultimately be pleased with their work. For France, it represents an improvement on last year's heavy defeat.