I posed the question of the thread on the assumption that France would play close to its best possible team.





It turns out that 11 of the 13 run on players in the team that I named did not play.

We all know that there is no depth to France's talent pool, so to miss 11 of the 13 first choice run on team players virtually guaranteed an annihilation by England.

This French team was obviously France A, not France. The situation was farcical. Both the French Federation and RFL bear responsibility for the holding of this farcically uneven contest. You cannot expect the France A team to compete with France, let alone England. The team selection turned the thread question into a purely abstract exercise.

Caught of law Brilliant.

France better start rebuilding now from the ground up so that they have a decent side in 20 years.
It takes years to build up a solid base from which you build your international team. It doesn't happen overnight.

What duty do the Catalans club have to produce players for the French national side?
Yes, France's player pool needs to improve massively, but it's going to take more than 20 players from the Catalans to do it. Look at NZ, hardly any of their first choice team come from the Warriors.
Positively, more French juniors seem to signing for English clubs, which is what's needed.

Why did the French side have so many players missing?

Casty, Duport and Yaha were definitely injured.

Seven of the other eight missing were suspicious absences, possibly instructed by their paymaster Bernard Guasch not to play.

Interesting that both Hull KR players were there, along with Morgan Escare (whom Guasch has covered by Krisnan Inu).

Only £10 to get in and only 8k. Leeds charge full whack and get 20k. We need to bring back longer kiwi and kangaroo tours.

Quote: Wigg'n "Are there even any highlights yet? It's like the game happened in another dimension or something.'" Found them https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgxxCtQXrB8

Quote: Wigg'n "Are there even any highlights yet? It's like the game happened in another dimension or something.'" Found them https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgxxCtQXrB8

Ah ok, so that makes it right then.

One of the reasons this planet is so messed up is because of 'tit for tat' revenge behaviour.

If someone is racist, stereotypical or rude to you it does not mean you need to reply with an equally insulting remark.

As I said, the fact that you and another person have tried to justify calling French people 'Frogs' goes to show just how far back in the past some RL fans are living.

And you wonder why RL cannot get sponsorship or TV coverage like Rugby Union?

its funny to see the arrogant hypocrisy of some fans. We have fans of teams who dont even have an academy criticising Les Catalans for not supporting an entire national side.

Fans who argue vociferously that Les Catalans (and toulouse) must operate in a promotion and relegation environment despite the additional problems that would cause those sides, but those teams are still expected to do something most english clubs fail to do and prioritise youth development.

We have fans of a country who decided to put on an untelevised, barely attended, low profile warm up game held in a small stadium in a small town in the north of England that couldnt sell out despite charging a piece of gum and a button for entry, wondering why the french arent bending over backwards to beat us.

Anyway. some very slick handling there which was good to see. Bateman, Williams and Widdop all looked great.

So was it the chicken or the egg? , did France not bother because of the lack of respect with regards the venue and marketing, or a lack of respect shown by France to International RL ?

Got in after 10 minutes, game already over, left after an hour, wont be going again, if they do it again I'd suggest Whitebank stadium Oldham