Sat 23rd Oct: Intl: France v England KO 2.30pm (TV)

[yanto]

1 minute ago, Damien said:

It doesn't have to be either the complete disaster that you claim or a great success which no one has actually claimed.

It was a success though. Far more of a success than the last few England v France games. It looked okay on national TV and was a desperately needed international. France showed major improvement and there were a lot of green shoots for the future. They can only grow on the back of this with Toulouse now in Super League. Indeed it was the best I have seen France play for quite some time and they didn't fade. The vast majority on here also enjoyed it so it certainly can't have been as bad as you claim.

The" vast majority on here"

BANG.YOU FINALLY GOT IT 

League fans. 

But we had an opportunity to showcase the game at prime time BBC  and I think we once again failed to deliver to attract viewers for the next time.

 

[Futtocks]

Just now, yanto said:

The" vast majority on here"

BANG.YOU FINALLY GOT IT 

League fans. 

But we had an opportunity to showcase the game at prime time BBC  and I think we once again failed to deliver to attract viewers for the next time.

 

League Fans like the blokes in the bar you mentioned? Have you polled non-RL fans for their feedback?

[Damien]

8 minutes ago, yanto said:

The" vast majority on here"

BANG.YOU FINALLY GOT IT 

League fans. 

But we had an opportunity to showcase the game at prime time BBC  and I think we once again failed to deliver to attract viewers for the next time.

 

You are moaning about supposed Widnes and Saints legends not enjoying it. League fans.

[Josef K]

9 hours ago, ATLANTISMAN said:

Very sunny today around 21 over the border but expect wind.

England by 30

Crowd no more than 3/4000 tops although I hope I am wrong.

French federation badly needs to be a professional set up and not volunteers Luc Locoste seems to be on his own and I sense the usual village club led infighting.

P

That’s how RL likes it with the club infighting. 

[theswanmcr]

13 minutes ago, yanto said:

The" vast majority on here"

BANG.YOU FINALLY GOT IT 

League fans. 

But we had an opportunity to showcase the game at prime time BBC  and I think we once again failed to deliver to attract viewers for the next time.

 

This was the equivalent of an England football friendly - these are all Shown on ITV. I watch them even though most of them are dire.

It will be Eng v Samoa at the start of the World Cup next year that it is the important one in attracting viewers again.

[yanto]

1 minute ago, theswanmcr said:

This was the equivalent of an England football friendly - these are all Shown on ITV. I watch them even though most of them are dire.

It will be Eng v Samoa at the start of the World Cup next year that it is the important one in attracting viewers again.

Different ball game. England football will always attract viewers. Rugby Union will always attract viewers. 

F1 will always attract viewers no matter how dire.

As a game we are always asking how to attract a new audience. 

In my opinion...much against the twenty or so members on here that are shooting me down...that today was not what we wanted .

Just leave it at that

[Josef K]

5 hours ago, JonM said:

Certainly looks like more people in the ground in Perpignan than in the ground watching the Australian cricket team in the T20 world cup.

Bloody hell Jon i didn’t even know there was a T20 World Cup on, ive not seen anything in pubs & clubs. That’s very RL. 

[Hvy wg]

23 minutes ago, Charlie said:

Poor start but I enjoyed the second half. Sangare, le cam and seguier impressed and hopefully with the likes of farge, Garcia, Bousquet,springer and maybe joe chan. I’m sure France can be more competitive going forward.

Joe is a kiwi as of now. Qualifies through residency but does he want it? I dunno.

[Futtocks]

1 minute ago, Josef K said:

Bloody hell Jon i didn’t even know there was a T20 World Cup on, ive not seen anything in pubs & clubs. That’s very RL. 

Must be a dying sport, then...

[theswanmcr]

Just now, yanto said:

Different ball game. England football will always attract viewers. Rugby Union will always attract viewers. 

F1 will always attract viewers no matter how dire.

As a game we are always asking how to attract a new audience. 

In my opinion...much against the twenty or so members on here that are shooting me down...that today was not what we wanted .

Just leave it at that

Fair enough. Look I get what you’re saying - It really wasn’t great at the start -France we’re always massive underdogs and expected to be hammered anyway. Not every game can be a classic but it was fine for what it was. Happy leave it there too

[Charlie]

4 minutes ago, Hvy wg said:

Joe is a kiwi as of now. Qualifies through residency but does he want it? I dunno.

Hopefully he does as he looks a handy player.

[JM2010]

France need to play England at home every year, mid season, plus 1 or 2 more fixtures. They also need to be involved in end of season tournaments every year such as WC, Euros, and tests against any touring SH sides.

Use these games and Toulouse and Catalans in SL to help raise the standards of the national team and to attract more kids to play the game.

Additionally, they could link up with the new Pacifique XIII team to develop a new talent pool

[Niels]

France were tactically poor defensively in the first 20 minutes and couldn't handle the high kicks. The Catalan players are used to Tomkins at full back and looked nervous without him there to me. He would have caught the 2 high balls dropped which resulted in 2 of the tries.

England weren't clinical as they missed some opportunities due to misguded individual plays. However they still built a winning lead and at 20-0 it was game over.

I thought France sorted out their defence and played well after that. England lost some intensity with the game won. They also missed a Maloney type player but Farges will be available next time.

I think we would all agree France don't have the strength in depth of England. I think the aim must be to have more players from the Catalans team (Toulouse if good enough), eligible for France. Otherwise they will be too vulnerable if they lose 2 or 3 players to injury. 

[wasginger]

I think Shaun Wane will have learned quite a lot from today.There were certain players just happy to stick in their positions instead of looking for work. Others just didn't look ready for international rugby. Now it could be that some players were on burn out at the end of a season. Also with it being Shaun Wane's first game I'm sure some players didn't understand the commitment needed from them. They definitely will after today. France after a poor start where they couldn't cope with the speed of the game or keep any shape either in attack or defensively, after 20 odd minutes you could see the players start to relax and show glimpses of what they can do, but for a bit more steadiness could have scored at least another couple of tries. France are definitely a work in progress, that hopefully take some positives from that game, although not forgetting their defensive frailties early in the game.

[Futtocks]

12 minutes ago, Niels said:

France were tactically poor defensively in the first 20 minutes and couldn't handle the high kicks. The Catalan players are used to Tomkins at full back and looked nervous without him there to me. He would have caught the 2 high balls dropped which resulted in 2 of the tries.

Just a really panicky start, for whatever reason. Every one of the four fullbacks in today's French side have proved themselves more reliable under the high ball than the wretched shambles we saw at the start of this match.

Mark Kheirallah, who was actually playing at FB, is normally a very good player in that position, as can be seen in his performances for Toulouse. On any other day, he'd have most likely caught those kicks and counter-attacked at pace. It may be a few years ago, but he did just that against the Kangaroos and scored a length-of-the-field try.

Add to that the stupid early high shot, the shambles in dealing with the original kick-off, failing to find touch with the boot, and Jussaume completely panicking on debut, and it's a miracle that England didn't score twice as many points in the first quarter.

[The Rocket]

1 hour ago, yanto said:

But we had an opportunity to showcase the game at prime time BBC  and I think we once again failed to deliver to attract viewers for the next time.

I turned it off after 20 minutes, it was 1.00 a.m. over here and I`d had a long day chasing cattle and the game looked gone.

Just got up it`s 7.30a.m. seen the score and now I`m kicking myself that I didn`t stick around last night and see what seems have turned out to be an attractive game of League with a lot of the French youngsters showing  a bit of promise.

I bet I`m not the only one who`s seen the scoreline this morning and thought ` damn wasn`t expecting that` and will duly tune in next time.

[ATLANTISMAN]

Just arrived back home fantastic day and Luc Lacoste jokingly thanked Ralph Rimmer for agreeing to play a test match in France every year from now on:)

Fantastic stuff and top marks to Ralph as well for making his speech in French it was noticed.

Sponsors happy everyone happy let's move forwards.

Ian Lenegan also made the effort to go as well top marks.

 

Paul

[Man of Kent]

Just watched it back on iPlayer. Encouraged to see France match England in the second half with so many debutants, and playing a little bit of champagne rugby too. They will improve for that first half. 

More France vs England games, pls.

[Bedfordshire Bronco]

6 minutes ago, The Rocket said:

I turned it off after 20 minutes, it was 1.00 a.m. over here and I`d had a long day chasing cattle and the game looked gone.

Just got up it`s 7.30a.m. seen the score and now I`m kicking myself that I didn`t stick around last night and see what seems have turned out to be an attractive game of League with a lot of the French youngsters showing  a bit of promise.

I bet I`m not the only one who`s seen the scoreline this morning and thought ` damn wasn`t expecting that` and will duly tune in next time.

Second half was a great contest. Leave the cattle to the wife next time cobber 

[Chris22]

Plenty to work on for both sides, but must be acknowledged that neither were close to full strength.

Hopefully Super League experience will improve the Toulouse contingent ahead of the World Cup.

Would be all for annual internationals against France. The eventual aim being to have competitive games against them, rather than our own fans hoping it doesn't become a massacre.

[The Daddy]

People are here not understanding how difficult it was to catch Jordan Abdull's bombs in direct sunlight and streaking shade lines, that was the cause of several of the French errors. Khereillah is normally very safe under the bomb. 

[Man of Kent]

27 minutes ago, ATLANTISMAN said:

Just arrived back home fantastic day and Luc Lacoste jokingly thanked Ralph Rimmer for agreeing to play a test match in France every year from now on:)

Fantastic stuff and top marks to Ralph as well for making his speech in French it was noticed.

Sponsors happy everyone happy let's move forwards.

Ian Lenegan also made the effort to go as well top marks.

 

Paul

Is Lenegan compos mentis?

[LongbridgeH]

1 hour ago, yanto said:

Different ball game. England football will always attract viewers. Rugby Union will always attract viewers. 

F1 will always attract viewers no matter how dire.

As a game we are always asking how to attract a new audience. 

In my opinion...much against the twenty or so members on here that are shooting me down...that today was not what we wanted .

Just leave it at that

The alternative was of course no end of season international at all. Which will have had very obvious complications for next year if that happened 

[ATLANTISMAN]

18 minutes ago, Man of Kent said:

Is Lenegan compos mentis?

Totally on the ball as usual Wigan are very lucky to have the backing of such a dedicated fan.

 

P

[unapologetic pedant]

50 minutes ago, The Rocket said:

I turned it off after 20 minutes, it was 1.00 a.m. over here and I`d had a long day chasing cattle and the game looked gone.

Ironically, our blowout obsessive @Sports Prophet stuck with it. And says he enjoyed it.

Widest margins were 20-0 and 30-4. I`ll make a note of those for future reference.