England Under 18 Clubs and Schools beaten in France
ENGLAND Under 18 Clubs and Schools were beaten 23-9 by France Under 18 A in their second and final match at the Tri Nations Festival at the French National Training Centre in Marcoussis today.
England led twice in the first half through three penalties from fly-half Dan Lewis but France struck an important blow when they scored a converted try just before half-time.
“It was a really good, competitive game of rugby and I think France were surprised just how much of a game we gave them,” said England head coach Dave Reed.
“They had a really good winger who was probably the difference between the sides but they were just as physical as we expected France to be and we coped well.”
Although England, who were also beaten by Ireland Under 18 Clubs in their opening match, lost both of their matches at the festival, Reed was delighted with the efforts of his squad.
“It has been a fantastic week and giving young players in the aspirational pathway the opportunity to play two internationals in a week at the French National Training Centre is something that they can only benefit from,” Reed said.
“There have been 24 brand new friendships formed during this campaign and players are already talking about travelling from Cheltenham to Durham and Cornwall to London to meet up this summer.
“That is all part of experience of tournaments like this and they have been fantastic ambassadors for the game and for the RFU.”
England Under 18 Clubs and Schools v France Under 18 A:
15 Charlie Dockery (Epsom College and Surrey – captain)
14 Michael Ledger (St Benedicts Ealing and Middlesex)
13 Ben Dixon (Carre’s GS, Newark RFC and NLD)
12 Charles Dunbar (Stamford School and NLD)
11 James Neal (Hartpury College and Warwickshire)
10 Dan Lewis ((St Joseph’s Ipswich, Bedford Blues and Eastern Counties)
9 Ben Pointon (Rugby School, Northampton Saints and East Midlands)
1 Josh Waller (Peterborough Regional College, Peterborough RFC and East Midlands)
2 Locryn Williams (Truro School and Cornwall)
3 Charlie Brown (Southend HS, Westcliff RFC and Essex)
4 Adam Thresher ((Judd School, Sevenoaks RFC and Kent)
5 Tom Bell (Uppingham School and Leicestershire)
6 Alex Brown (Oaklands College, Saracens RFC and Hertfordshire)
7 Michael Dewar (Abingdon School and Oxfordshire)
8 Dale Lemon (Cleeve School, Cheltenham RFC and Gloucestershire)
Replacements used:
Owen Griffiths (Moulton College, Biggleswade RFC and East Midlands)
Adam Brocklebank (Myerscough College and Lancashire)
Jay Tyack (Bryanston School, Truro RFC and Cornwall)
Liam Parfitt (Rishworth School and Lancashire)
Cameron Lee-Everton (Moulton College and East Midlands)
Tom Morgan (Stonyhurst College and Lancashire)
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