UNDER-16 INTERNATIONAL

England Rugby League’s Youth side are celebrating a historic double today after picking up two wins on their tour of France this week.

Friday night brought up a 28-16 win at SM Pia’s Daniel Ambert Stadium, and that set the scene for an intriguing second test four days later, where France, once again, got off to a strong start.

Thibault Osuna got an early four-pointer for the home side, converted by Mourgue to make it 6-0. That soon became 6-6 as Herbie Farnworth got over for England three minutes later, Callum Green with the goal, but France scored two unanswered tries before the break to hand themselves an eight-point advantage just after the half hour mark.

With the young tourists on the ropes, Cameron Scott notched his second try from as many games to hand the visitors a lifeline, making it 14-10 at half time.

England would need to dig deep for another second-half fightback to maintain their 100 per cent record, but they got off to a perfect start in the second period as Scott notched his third of the series within a minute of kick off. Smith got the goal to put England 16-14 up ahead of Sean Croston’s unconverted score on 50 minutes.

At 20-14 up, Wigan Warriors product Smith opted for a penalty goal soon after to produce a two-score lead. That proved crucial as the hosts launched a quick response, Mourgue scoring on 65 minutes, Osuna with the goal, to make it 20-22 going into the final 15 minutes.

With France looking to go ahead once more, Herbie Farnworth struck inside a minute of Mourgue’s effort to stretch England’s lead to six points. Under pressure, Smith kicked a stunning touchline conversion to make it 28-20, a lead which Danny Wilson’s men held until the final whistle.

FRANCE U16
Brice Pena, Enzo Gruppi, Mathieu Laguerre, David Demacedo, Samirdine Youssouf, Mourgue Arthur, Thibault Franck, Nathan Chatras, Thibault Osuna, Florian Vailhen, Luc Delor, Corentin Le Cam, Arnaud Hack, Barthelemy Rouge, Hugo Salabio, Julian Berdu, Thomas Pelletier

ENGLAND U16
Jordan Parr, Sean Croston, Cameron Scott, Harry Newman, Herbie Farnworth, Callum Green, Callum McLelland, Jack Brown, Paul Nash, Matthew Ashcroft, Joe Shorrocks, Joe Summers, Callum Tramner, Harry Smith, Loui McConnell, Sam Storey, Adam Rooks