The NCL Eagles ground out a 30-17 victory over France Federale in a pulsating clash in Nantes.
Mike Wood reports
The Eagles got the best possible start, with hooker Danny Kay burrowing over after just three minutes, captain Paul Evans converting for the first of his five goals. Their discipline, which was a thorn in their side all afternoon, let them down however, and France Federale pegged them back with 3 penalties, all kicked by Sebastien Chastaing.
The French doubled their lead with a carbon copy of the Eagles try, scrum half Lionel Munoz going in from acting half with 25 minutes gone. The Eagles hit back immediately, Lee James touching down after a smart kick from Mick Hill, Evans landing a touchline conversion to tie the scores. The French seized the advantage going into the break with a late drop goal from Fabien Bourrell making the score 13-12 at the interval.
France capitalised on more indiscipline from the Eagles early on in the second period, Chastaing goaling another penalty after an off the ball incident, for which Chris Geoghegan was sent to the sin bin. Despite the man deficit, however, the Eagles retook the lead with a superb try from Dudley Hill winger Neil Wall scoring in the corner after some lovely handling down the line. Evan's conversion attempt, however, came back off the post, and the French responded with a further penalty to retake the lead, before, after withstanding two consecutive sets on their line, the Eagles pressed ahead with another try from Wall, who burst through two would-be tacklers ten yards from his own line and raced the length of the pitch to make the score 20-17 with twenty minutes remaining.
Evans converted, and then held his nerve to put the Eagles two scores in front with a penalty from 40 metres. The Eagles again made life hard for themselves as Rob Kershaw was binned after retaliating when he had been held down, but the English side sealed the victory with a try from Lee James, who went under the posts after a smart passing move down the left.
NCL EAGLES:
2 - Rob Kershaw (Mayfield)
5 - Neil Wall (Dudley Hill)
3 - Anthony Dixon (Millom)
4 - Tom Wood (Cas Lock Lane)
1 - Lee James (Myton Warriors)
6 - Paul Evans (Millom) Captain
7 - Mick Hill (Normanton)
8 - Glynn Watson (Eccles SJ)
9 - Danny Kay (St Annes)
10 - John Fox (St Annes)
11 - Gareth English (Ovenden)
12 - Marc Jones (Eccles SJ)
13 - Steve Barry (Eccles SJ)
Subs:
14 - Nathan Kitson (Dudley Hill)
16 - Aidan Gleeson (Mayfield)
17 - Chris Geoghegan (Ovenden)
19 - Adam Walker (Saddleworth)
20 - Glenn Holland (Thatto Heath)
FRANCE FEDERALE:
1 - Ismael Navarlas (Beziers)
2 - Pierre Martinet (Begies)
3 - Alexandre Escapa (St Martins)
4 - Cyril Lazaro (Trentels)
5 - Laurent Bosch (St Laurent)
6 - Fabien Bourrell (Ornaisons)
7 - Lionel Munoz (Homps)
13 - David Trastet (Pamiers)
12 - Gregory Hallier (La Reole)
11 - Jean-Luc Angelini (Roanne)
10 - Sadio Sissoko (Paris Charenton)
9 - Richard Bel (Pamiers) Captain
8 - Aurelien Foret (Gratentour)
Subs:
14 - Mattheiu Zokou (Paris Charenton)
15 - Sebastien Chastaing (Gratentour)
16 - Brice Nutini (Homps)
17 - Julien Lacrambe (Gratentour)
18 - Julien Dubourg (La Reole)
