England U18 suffer narrow defeat to France
France 23 – 19 England England U18 fell to their first defeat of the European Championships in France this evening, losing by a four point margin. Despite showing real promise in attack, resulting in tries from Jake Pope, Alex Mitchell and Josh Caulfield, England failed to overcome a strong French outfit. The opposition maintained the lead throughout the fixture in Blagnac, scoring two tries and 13 points off the boot. Head coach John Fletcher said: “We knew France would be a tough opposition and that was proved right this evening. Against a team of France’s quality, you can’t afford to give them the chances we did and that cost us. We couldn’t maintain enough pressure on France for long enough periods. “But despite the score line I was pleased with the effort from the players; they didn’t let up and we were pushing hard for a try at the end. They are disappointed with the result, however the players will learn from it and produce a good performance in our last game this weekend.” England’s attention will now turn to their final game of the European Championships on Saturday, April 4 in Toulouse. Opposition TBC. England U18 15. Darren Atkins (Bath Rugby, Millfield School) Replacements: 16. Curtis Langdon (London Irish, St Pauls Sunbury) *Denotes those players not used. England points: Jack Pope 1T, Alex Mitchell 1T, Theo Brophy Clews 1C, Josh Caulfield 1T, Johnny McPhillips 1C |
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