| England: (12) 34 |
| Tries: Hawkins, Coyd, King 2, Collins, Halliwell Objectives: Coyd, Collins 4 |
| France: (30) 43 |
| Tries: Bourson 3, Alazard, Dore, Verdi Objectives: Alazard 8, Verdi Drop: Guttadoro |
England fell to a disappointing 43-34 defeat towards France of their Wheelchair Rugby League re-match in Leeds.
Jeremy Bourson scored a hat-trick for the guests as they gained revenge for final 12 months’s defeat by England within the World Cup ultimate.
England lacked composure and path and struggled defensively, significantly within the opening half.
They closed the hole within the second half however France managed the sport.
Sunday’s sport is the primary of a two-match sequence between the perimeters with the second sport in Marseille on Saturday, 25 November.
“We’ll use it as motivation and a lesson discovered,” England captain Tom Halliwell informed BBC Sport.
“I’m gutted. Each time you pull on the England jersey, you need to do effectively.
“We may be happy with our second half, however we gave ourselves an excessive amount of to do with some uncharacteristic errors.
“Full credit score to the French, they’re an awesome outfit and it took all the things to beat them within the World Cup ultimate however we’ll return and be able to go in Marseille.”
The perimeters, the highest two on the planet, have dominated the game for a few years with France successful the 2013 and 2017 World Cups earlier than England’s 28-24 win in Manchester final 12 months.
England began confidently and took an early lead via a Rob Hawkins attempt, transformed by Joe Coyd however they then misplaced their method and appeared sloppy in defence.
The brand new-look French aspect, now with out two of their key gamers in Gilles Clausells and his nephew Nico Clausells, scored 30 unanswered first-half factors to silence the group of greater than 2,300 on the First Direct Area.
Bourson crossed twice whereas Damien Dore and Lionel Alazard additionally scored tries with Alazard including seven objectives to place them effectively in management.
England wanted a response and Coyd acquired an important rating simply earlier than the break and the influential Jack Brown got here on for the second half as they appeared to get again into the match.
Lewis King went over within the nook for the primary of his tries and a Nathan Collins conversion minimize the lead earlier than Yann Verdi gave the French some respiratory area and Bourson accomplished his hat-trick on the hour to take care of their dominance
Halliwell and King crossed with Collins changing each to make it a nine-point sport however the French defence held agency they usually confirmed higher sport administration to emerge victorious.