France 30 Australia 52

[Dakink]

Is something bad happening with the form of the Kangaroos or is it just International League improving? I hope it's the second one.

2 things
1 -Bennett is reaching the end of his usefullnes as coach
2 - The Poms are making huge inroads and we can finally say they are just about level at the highest standard. All they need to do now is work on depth!

 

[Art Vanderlay]

Congrats to the French!!! I was there last week for the Kiwis game and i came away from that game feeling NZ just had a great escape!

The French have some class players there forwards where from the old school!! and there young halves looked great! there half back is only 18 or 19
(they had enough chances to beat the kiwis that day)

So good on the French for making Aus work for there huge pay packets today! and lets hope this French team can go and make the Tri Nations in a year or two!!!! (NRL clubs CEO`s permitting)

 

[Ollee]

I think it is quite remarkable that France put 30 points on Australia.......I'm still stunned by that. Great Performance, they obviously have the talent within their playing stocks. I hope that UTC lock up the best of the players involved in that match, if they can and with the couple of Australian Players going over there, they will be competitive in the SL.

I think that the NRL and SL should have had a system in place that places their young and upcoming stars into proffessional clubs as has been mentioned. These players would not be included in the Salary cap. It would be a good way of ensuring these players are not poached by Union. But with UTC coming in hopefully they will provide the incentive for their star players to remain in League.

 

[PARRA_FAN]

I'd like to see more matches played against France, they are a much better team than 1994 when they were beaten 58-0 and 74-0. I think the inclusion of UTC in the SL will improve French Rugby League and also more test matches against the top sides.

 

[iggy plop]

I can't believe they nearly got us. Holy sh*t. :shock:

If we didn't have Lockyer and scored three tries in the last 5, anything could have happened.

France the near giant killers. New Zealand and Australia in two weeks.

The future is bright for France. No doubt the new ESL team will be a stunning success, we will have four top nations in RL in a few years.

As Iggy just said, we need to keep the evil Union pricks away from our boys. Even if we have to sign them to 1 year contracts to NRL and ESL clubs until the French ESL team gets off the ground.


Welcome back France, we missed you!

Glad you didn't humiliate my Kangaroos though. ;-)

Apparently the union bastards were at the ground in force and ready to pounce. The French SL team couldn't come quick enough.

 

[Puig-Aubert]

I was to the match !!
What a fantastic game !!! fantastic atmosphere !! We have lost the match during the last 10 minutes. If Lockier wasn't played we can win and next year we can win u
Best french players Fakir Rinaldi Greseque Berthezene
Best Aussies player Lockyer Tate Fitzgibbon

 

[Puig-Aubert]

pics
http://perso.club-internet.fr/martigues.rugby13/martigues13//f-a.htm

 

[Ari Gold]

Puig-Aubert, how big was the crowd, can you give us an estimation?

 

[Unknown Pleasures]

Yeah I haven't heard the crowd figure anywhere? Anyone know what it was? Must not ave been the 20,000 they were saying.

 

[Ari Gold]

I've heard that Shane Marteene is interested in playing for France...he would bring some valuable experience to the French team...

 

[carlnz]

I think close to 10,000 if they are lucky

 

[In-goal]

i would say that the French players would be stiffled in the NRL due to the lack of flair shown in that comp, they are much better suited to the open English game were high scores are more the norm.

GB are the great hope the game has needed with a strong GB the game in the Northern Hemisphere can realy push on.

 

[Misanthrope]

Wow, I'm blown away. My main qualm is why the hell wasn't this match televised? On the up side, the match has proved that international league is genuinely alive and kicking. Great Britain have really closed the gap, and a full strength NZ side is still the match of Australia any day. France's immensely impressive performances against NZ and Australia have also, perhaps, thrown another contender into the ring. Union can't really say we only have three teams 'capable of winning' now.

If PNG and one of the other emerging nations (Lebanon strike me as the bolter) can improve, we're in for a crackerjack 2008 World Cup.

 

[CC_Eagle]

Any footage...anywhere?

 

[DonBilly]

Reports estimate around 10,000. No confirmation yet.

I read in the paper that there were 8000 people attending the match. You know given the state of RL in France that's not bas at all. Keep in mind that outside a small community of people very much involved in RL very few have heard about this match.

However there starts to be some interest in the media and for the first time since the infamous 1981 final there was RL on TV, I mean free and publicly available channels, like BBC or ITV in UK.

 

[Puig-Aubert]

Crowd between 8000 9000.
Normal crowd for RL in France.

 

[screeny]

I just watched the match on Sport Plus. Great entertainment even though Australia were palpably in low gear defensively and in terms of ball security. You sure can tell when Webke ain't on the field.

Fakir and Locky were undoubtedly the best two on the field, and the French midfield triangle was great to watch. There were three or four flashes of real brilliance, sizzling inter play you just don't get to see in a month of Sundays. Great stuff.

Mounis didn't do too much with ball in hand, but occasionally the French, when in the middle of the field, just played instinctive footy between the three creators and it was superb.

The Aussies seemed to be able to score at will when they got into high gear. Terrific passing and just so beautiful to behold. And I mean really beautiful in the truest sense of the word: wonderful spirals hitting sprinting runners into gaps and out of trouble.

I'm going to watch it again in a few hours when it's replayed. Ha!

 

[SFW]

Apparently Fakir is close to signing for Toulouse Rugby Union. :evil: