Agar praises French troops

France coach Richard Agar revealed his satisfaction after his team picked up their first win of the European Championship with a 31-14 victory over Ireland.

Two tires from Catalans’ Tony Gigot helped France secure a precious win, with Catalans teammates Jordan Sigismeau and Stanislas Robin also scoring tries in a performance that pleased Agar.

“The biggest plus was to come through a tight game. We didn’t get too ruffled. We made a mistake at a point when it looked like we were going to run away with the game but I thought we stayed relatively composed.

Theo Fages also scored for France
Theo Fages also scored for France

“Looking at Ireland’s players, it’s easy to see how a slip-up could have happened – they had impeccable kicking from Liam, which was the difference in the first half between the two sides. The scores were level but his kicking game put us under so much pressure, whereas ours didn’t offer enough field position. But once we got to two scores ahead we played with some freedom and played really well.”

 

For a full report of the match, buy this week’s League Express, in stores now.