ENGLAND HOPES CRASH IN U-21 CUP DEFEAT
By AlanQuin
June 22 2003
There was a faint hope before the game that a win, in conjunction with an Australian victory over New Zealand, might let England through to the semi-final stages. That hope was extinguished by a French team which had more ambition and a better defence and won eventually by 21 points to 16.
| In the end France, whose hope of further progress was also dependent
upon the Australian result were also frustrated by the 27 – 27 draw.
England can finish either fifth or sixth, the latter position being no
better than their present ranking.
Two Harlequins were in the England Squad. Henry Barratt was selected at centre and Andy Reay on the bench. Both Chris Bell and Ugo Monye had muscle pulls and were not fit for selection. A beautiful summer’s day at Henley RFC’s ground was the venue for this match.
With well over 2000 tickets allegedly sold and a stand that holds only about 150, it was standing room only. There were more spectators than Henley would have present for a league match and the pity was that the quality of the match was poor. The French pack was stronger and more mobile than the England forwards with the result that they starved England of possession. Their lineout faltered only once and even then the error was overtaken by England’s failure to find space to attack. It was late in the second half that when the French had collected three yellow cards and were down to 12 men that England managed to break the defence and score a try.
They had gifted an interception try and a number of penalties and when they eventually crossed the French line to bring the score to 21 – 16, it was too late. France were too strong in all departments of the game and even Marcel Garvey was unable to make any impact or find space to run. England now play Wales at Henley on Wednesday 25th June at 3.0 p.m. in the place matches and will then go on to play either the winner or loser of Scotland-v- France at Newbury on Sunday morning 29th June at either 11.0 a.m. or 1.15 p.m.
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