FRANCE 120 NEW ZEALAND 10
IAN GOLDEN, WIN Entertainment Centre, Wollongong, Tuesday

THE Wheel Kiwis made a fight of it, but they were no match for the ferocious French.

France opened the scoring after just 72 seconds through Jorge Gelade Panzo. Florian Guttadoro kicked the first of his eight goals (Nicolas Clausells also converted eight of their 22-try total).

Jérémy Bourson scored a brace before the seventh minute, then Dany Denuwelaere added one, bringing the score up to 22-0 before New Zealand had their first major attack, in which Nikia Fa’atau, the only person in the match to play a full 80 minutes, was forced into dropping the ball when near the line.

Further tries from Guttadoro and Denuwelaere put the score on to 36-0, before Bourson claimed his hat-trick.

Nicolas Clausells then scored a hat-trick of tries before the break, with Denuwelaere adding two and Bourson one to put the score on to 74-0 at half-time.

New Zealand opened the second half in style after Kauri Murray showed acrobatics to register their first try of the match, much to the delight of the local crowd. Dan Scott couldn’t convert.

The score was 94-4 before they went over for their second, through Fa’atau with Ryan Charles adding the goal, but the French dominated the remainder.

Damien Doré and Adrien Zittel went over for a try each, with Clausells adding his fourth and Denuwelaere his fifth. Gelade Panzo added a second-half hat-trick, with Bourson scoring twice more to put him on six for the match.

FRANCE: 2 Damien Doré, 3 Florian Guttadoro, 7 Dany Denuwalaere, 4 Jérémy Bourson, 8 Jorge Gelade Panzo. Subs (all used): 1 Gilles Clausells, 5 Adrien Zittel, 6 Nicolas Clausells

Tries: Gelade Panzo (2, 67, 74, 80), Bourson (4, 7, 24, 40, 72, 77), Denuwalaere (10, 21, 32, 34, 61), Guttadoro (18), N Clausells (28, 36, 39, 58), Doré (52), Zittel (56); Goals: Guttadoro 8/11, N Clausells 8/11

NEW ZEALAND: 3 Nikia Fa’atau, 5 Jayson Hooker, 9 Pele Sulusi, 6 Kauri Murray, 2 Ryan Charles. Subs (all used): 4 Joshua Hirini-Barclay, 7 Dan Scott, 10 Jamie Tapp

Tries: Murray (47), Fa’atau (63); Goals: Scott 0/1, Charles 1/1

SCORING SEQUENCE: 6-0, 12-0, 16-0, 22-0, 28-0, 34-0, 40-0, 46-0, 52-0, 56-0, 62-0, 68-0, 74-0; 74-4, 78-4, 84-4, 90-4, 94-4, 94-10, 100-10, 106-10, 112-10, 116-10, 120-10

Rugby Leaguer & League Express Players of the Match
France: Jérémy Bourson; New Zealand: Nikia Fa’atau

Penalty count: 8-11; Half-time: 74-0; Referees: Tim Robinson and Anthony Bishop; Attendance: 838