Middlesex Rugby

Millfield International Festival

England Under 16 A lose thriller to French

England U16 A 25 France U16 33

The opening day of the Millfield International Festival finished with a thriller at Tor RFC near Glastonbury tonight, with England’s Under 16 A team outscored five tries to four by France Under 16s.

England led 25-23 with five minutes to go but two late tries at the left corner by the French, who displayed nifty footwork and handling throughout, earned them the win.

A crowd of a couple of hundred were well entertained and France set the tone with their first attack when – after England captain Will Radburn stemmed one raid with a smart tackle – inside centre Ilian Perraux broke the defensive line and his midfield partner Bastien Fuster ran in the opening try.

A penalty by fly half Clément Otazo made it 8-0 to France then it was nip and tuck for the rest of the match.

Fly half Tom Barrett kicked a 25-metre penalty for England and from the restart, after strong initial French tackling, England recycled to the left and full back Ben Ransom – who had an eye-catching night on the offensive – made an arcing break from his 22, swerved to change direction and gave a perfect scoring pass to left wing Marland Yarde.

France responded with a try by hefty loosehead prop Sébastien Taofifuena, then England’s pack gave the side a boost, shoving the French scrummage off their own ball after an attack had been held up over the line.

England’s line-out occasionally coughed up possession and one of those lapses prompted No 8 Sam Northcote-Green to make a fine cover tackle across the field but the French kept going and second row Andrew Chauveau beat off three tackles to score their third try, Otazo converting for a 20-8 lead.

In first half added time Ransom made another clean outside break and passed for centre George Elliott to run in England’s second try: 20-13 to France at half-time.

With the French losing No 8 Karl Chateau to the sin bin for use of the boot this was England’s chance to pull clear.

The second half began with a break from Elliott finished off by right wing James Trueman, and Barrett converting.

Then, with their opponents still down to 14 men, a classic line-out move by England caught the French unawares for the home side’s fourth try. Charles Clare’s first touch after coming on at hooker was a throw to the front and the recipient, Sam Farmer, crashed over.

That made it 25-20 to England but replacement centre Alexandre Fontan knocked over a penalty then left wing Jordan Matier went over from Fuster’s pass. The final try by Chateau brought the house down for the French.

Steve Shortland, England Under 16 A forwards coach, complimented France for their excellent continuity but was happy with his side’s overall performance.

“The French were a very open and imaginative side,” said Shortland. “We are obviously disappointed to lose but there were some very pleasing phases of play and I’m proud of our guys.

“We attacked well to find space in the outside centre channel, the captain led by example and when we stuck to our structures there was some excellent rugby.

“Both sides were energetic and enthusiastic and I thought it was a great game for the spectators.”

England Under 16 A: B Ransom (Tonbridge School & Kent); J Trueman (Solihull School & Warwickshire), G Elliott (Easingwold School & Yorkshire), R Mills (West Exe Technology College & Devon), M Yarde (Gunnersbury Boys Catholic School & Middlesex); T Barrett (Sedbergh School & Yorkshire), M Hogan (King Edward VII & Eastern Counties); G Burkinshaw (Ecclesfield School & Yorkshire), K Britton (Kingsbridge Community College & Devon), W Bigley (Wellingborough School & East Midlands), A Lockley (Ivybridge College & Devon), S Farmer (Bedford School & East Midlands), W Radburn (Tudor Grange & North Midlands, capt), J Stephenson (Canford School & Dorset and Wiltshire), S Northcote-Green (Dulwich College & Surrey). Replacements: C Clare (Sedbergh School & Yorkshire) for Britton, T Williams (Abraham Darby & North Midlands) for Bigley, A Bone (Harrow School & Middlesex) for Lockley, S Heygate (Guilsborough School & East Midlands) for Stephenson, W Dunkley (Bedford School & East Midlands), J Allan (North Halifax Grammar & Yorkshire) for Yarde. Not used: L Padian (Bishop Challoner Sports College & North Midlands), W Skuse (Penair School & Cornwall), O Shaw (Bradford Grammar & Yorkshire), C Sadler (St Benedict’s College & Eastern Counties). G Armitage unavailable, called up by Wellington College.

Tries: Yarde, Elliott, Trueman, Farmer; con: Barrett; pen: Barrett.

France U16: M Villalongue; G Decottignie, B Fuster, I Perraux, J Matier; C Otazo, P Ferrary; S Taofifuena, Q Viozelange, M Corbel, A Chauveau, B Guillaume, N Gali, L Barba, K Chateau. Replacements: H Houdard for Decottignie, A Fontan for Perraux, F Catala for Otazo, Q Moulinjeune for Ferrary, F Frezia for Taofifuena, K Boukechiche for Gali, G Jego for Boukechiche.

Tries: Fuster, Taofifuena, Chauveau, Matier, Chateau; con: Otazo; pens: Otazo, Fontan.

Millfield International Festival 2008

Competing teams: England U16 A, Wales U16 A, France U16, Scotland U17, Canada U17, USA U17, Portugal U17, Romania U17.

Fixtures (all matches at Millfield School unless stated):

Tuesday April 1:

Wales v Scotland 21-17

Canada v Romania 45-0

USA v Portugal 34-3

England U16 A v France U16 25-33 (at Tor RFC)

Thursday April 3:

Romania v Wales (10am)

Scotland v Portugal (11.30am)