Two tries apiece from Ash Handley, Jack Welsby and Tom Johnstone helped England’s men to an 40-8 victory over France in Saturday’s mid-season international in Toulouse.
England, watched over by assistant coach Andy Last in the absence of head coach Shaun Wane, suffered a shock early setback as a try from Fouad Yaha, and conversion and penalty from Arthur Morgue put the hosts into an eight-point lead.
But Handley’s first-half double, and one apiece from Welsby and Tom Johnstone, saw the visitors turn things around to lead 18-8 at half time. The England full-back’s and Johnstone’s second, and scores from Warrington Wolves pair Matty Nicholson and George Williams put the seal on the victory after the break.
It followed England Women cruising to a 42-0 win over France in the opening game of the double-header, with debutant Anna Davies leading the way for the visitors with two tries at Stade Ernest-Wallon.
France men 8-40 England men
England extended their winning run against France to 23 matches with a comfortable 32-point victory in Toulouse.
Without head coach Shaun Wane, who did not travel after undergoing ankle surgery earlier in the week, England saw France take a surprise early lead, only to respond by running in eight tries and remain unbeaten against their cross-Channel rivals since 1981.
The winning margin would have been bigger had Wigan half-back Harry Smith not missed four of his eight conversion attempts, but England were made to work harder than the scoreline suggests.
France, marking 90 years since their first international rugby league match against England, stunned the visitors by taking a third-minute lead when Fouad Yaha raced on to Arthur Mourgue’s bouncing kick to score a converted try in the corner.
England struggled to get going and when Mourgue converted a 20th-minute penalty to put France 8-0 up, the away side had not created a scoring chance.
But that changed shortly afterwards as England clicked into gear to run in four tries in the space of 11 minutes to turn their deficit into an 18-8 half-time advantage.
Jack Welsby finished in the corner, Ash Handley rounded off two moves out wide on the right and opposite wing Tom Johnstone also went over, with Smith landing only one of his first four conversion attempts.
Ash Handley celebrates one of his tries with Harry Newman
England were forced to defend for the first 20 minutes after the restart before Matty Nicholson ran on to Smith’s clever kick to score, with Welsby going over for his second try five minutes later.
Smith converted the latter and landed two more after captain George Williams had darted over and Johnstone scored his second try to complete the scoring as the final hooter sounded after France had been forced into a late goal-line drop-out.
France Women 0-42 England Women
England Women ran in eight unanswered tries in another dominant display against France at Stade Ernest-Wallon.
Stuart Barrow’s side, who beat France 64-0 when the two sides last met in Warrington in April last year, went over four times in either half.
Anna Davies crossed twice for England Women against France
Wigan Warriors winger Anna Davies and York Valkyrie’s Georgie Hetherington both scored tries on their debuts, either side of Amy Hardcastle’s finish, while Zoe Harris also went over before the break.
Having led 20-0 at the interval, England added further tries in the second period through Paige Travis, Davies’ second of the match, Eboni Partington and Emily Rudge.
Isabel Rowe, the 17-year-old Wigan scrum-half who was among the five debutants for the visitors, kicked five of eight conversion attempts as well.
“It was really good,” player of the match Hardcastle said. “We started off really well and then we kind of came away from what we had to do, but we kind of came back into the game there.
Amy Hardcastle was named as England Women’s player of the match
“It’s all about being patient and looking after the ball.
“A massive well done to France, they were really improved and I really enjoyed that game.”
What’s next?
England’s men are back in action later this year when Samoa visit for a two-Test tour. Shaun Wane’s side host the side which beat them in the semi-finals of the last Rugby League World Cup in Wigan on Sunday, October 27 (2.30pm kick-off) and Leeds on Saturday, November 2 (2.30pm).
The Betfred Super League resumes with the start of Round 16 live on Sky Sports on Friday, July 5. Watch every match of the 2024 Super League season, including Magic Weekend, the play-offs, and men’s, women’s and wheelchair Grand Finals, live on Sky Sports or stream contract-free with NOW.