On a beautiful winter's afternoon, England U'18s beat France by 18-16 in a tight, fiercely contested game at Fylde's Woodlands ground. 

Peter Elliott's match report follows:

The cream of English junior rugby was on show at Fylde Rugby Club last Sunday, as the England under 18 squad took on France at the Woodlands ground in Lytham.

England beat the French 18-16 in a game that could have gone either way, and was in doubt until the last kick of the ball.

Leading 18-11 until the last minute, a lapse in the defensive live saw French full-back Nicolas Metge jink through for a try which he celebrated by swallow diving over the line. The conversion kick was missed, so it was a victory for the English team, whose players are all members of Aviva Premiership club academies.

France took an early lead through powerful running from centre Brandon Fajardo, before England pegged their way back into the game with a Billy Burns penalty goal and a converted try from scrum half Callum Braley on 22 minutes.

That England try came after French prop Yousef Amrouni was sin binned for an offside tackle, which the English profited from straight away.

Both sides then applied pressure on the other, before France ended the first half scoring on 30 minutes, with a Baptiste Serin penalty goal from in front of the posts.

Leading 10-8 at half time, the English were given a further boost when Metge was yellow carded for cynically holding the ball in the tackle on 47 minutes, for Burns to pop the ball over the post for an easy penalty goal.

France eased their way back into the game with a penalty goal of their own, for the English to extend the lead on 58 minutes, when Anthony Watson raced through to collect a chip kick from Sam Olver to take the scorer to 18-11.

That was the last of the action until the Metge try, which came as the clock ticked down to full time, leaving Paul Abadie with the chance to equalise, but his shot was well wide of the posts.

Teams

England

Anthony Watson, Nathan Earle (George Catchpole 55), Tom Stephenson, Javiah Pohe, Josh Watkins, Billy Burns (Sam Olver 49), Callum Braley (Tom Chapman 49): Danny Hobbs-Aw Oyemi (Harry Rudkin 48), Harry Thacker (Reece Marshall 68), Scott Wilson, Tom Ellis (Jake Oldaker 44), Charlie Ewels, Ross Moriarty, Gus Jones, Joel Conlon

France

Nicolas Metge, Mohamed Belguidoum (Thomas Bouyxou 60), Gael Fickou (Francois Bouvier 35), Brandon Fajardo, Julien Gardey, Sebastien Dimitri, Baptiste Serin (Paul Abadie 42): Yousef Amrouchi, Romain Ruffenach (Benoit Andre 42), Anthony Rochet (Mickael Hygonnet 35), Arthuer Iturria, Jean-Baptiste Singer (Jordan Benheim 55), Yacouba Camara (Jean-Blaise Lespinasse 51), Raphael Molcard, Felix Lambey

Scorers

England - Tries: Braley, Watson. Conversions: Burns. Penalty Goals: Burns (2)

France - Tries: Fajardo, Metge. Penalty Goals: Serin, Abadie.

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The talented young players enjoyed the occasion in front of a big crowd, estimated at 1,200, and on the wide Woodlands pitch which was in great condition for running rugby. Once again, the Club has done a fantastic job in organising and promoting the game.

Click here for the RFU's match report.

Photographs courtesy of Chris Farrow.