England Youth lose second test to France

England Youth lost 8-20 to France Under-16 at The Big Fellas Stadium in Featherstone earlier this week to draw the two-match junior international series 1-1.

The French adapted to the warm conditions better than their hosts, and were also very aggressive and competitive.

England struggled to impose themselves on the first half, and were 18-0 down at half-time.

A second-half revival was not enough to overcome the deficit, and England coach Shane Eccles was disappointed with the outcome of the game.

“It was disappointing that we lost the game but for us it’s about the experience for the players – we want to see them deal with a physical and mental challenge,” he said.

“We spoke about the French coming back stronger and we got ourselves into a battle rather than focusing on what we were trying to do in the game, and that’s a big learning curve for the players.”

England Youth (professional and community club shown in brackets):

James Worthington (Wigan Warriors, Wigan St Judes)
William Dagger (Wakefield Trinity Wildcats, Castleford Panthers)
Jacob Wardle (Huddersfield Giants, Illingworth)
Harry Newman (Leeds Rhinos, Newsome Panthers)
Kevin Brown (St Helens, Thatto Heath Crusaders)
Declan O’Donnell (Wigan Warriors, Wigan St Patricks)
Danny Walker (Widnes Vikings, Crosfields)
Liam Walsh (Widnes Vikings, Halton Farnworth Hornets)
Jacques O’Neill (Castleford Tigers, Askam)
Mikolaj Oledzki (Leeds Rhinos, Hunslet Warriors)
Dyson Nicholson (Leeds Rhinos, Hunslet Warriors)
Oliver Partington (Wigan Warriors, Orrell St James)
Cameron Smith (Leeds Rhinos, Lock Lane)

Interchange:

Elliot Windley (Hull KR, West Hull)
Jon-Luke Kirby (Huddrsfield Giants, Eastmoor Dragons)
Caine Barnes (Wigan Warriors, Seaton Rangers)
Samuel Kibula (Wigan Warriors, Leigh Miners Rangers)

France Under-16s:

Luc Franco (StEsteve XIII Catalan (Dragons U19))
Georgy Gambaro (MJCarcasonne XIII)
Theo Guinguet (Tonneins XIII)
William Planela (St Esteve)
Nicolas Company (SOA)
Lucas Albert (StEsteve XIII Catalan (Dragons U19))
Thibault Franck (XIII Catalan)
Theo Lardot (Marseille 13)
Clement Meunier (XIII Catalan)
Maxime Garcia (StEsteve XIII Catalan (Dragons U19))
Leo Mathieu (Albi)
Cameron Chamorin (St Esteve)
Ayoub Mezianni (SOA)

Interchange:

Hugo Priels (XIII Catalan)
Justin Sangare (TO XIII)
Louis Castres (FCL XIII)
Tom Bonillo (XIII Catalan)

England Youth 8 (T: Dagger 2), France U-16s 20 (T: Guinguet, Albert, Franco; G: Albert 4)