England regain Fassolette-Kielty Trophy with triumph in France
England avenged their defeat to France earlier in the month with victory on French soil at the Palais Des Sports in Marseilles, taking control of the Fassolette-Kielty Trophy after letting it slip 20 days previous.
Lewis King opened the scoring in the first minute, taking Tom Halliwell's pass sublimely to beat Jeremy Bourson to the line, but Rob Hawkins was unable to convert.
Hawkins extended England's lead, taking Haliwell's mid-field kick to score in the right corner, this time adding the conversion and on the 15 minute mark added a penalty goal to his tally from the centre of the field for a second tag being taken too late by the French defender.
Adrien Zittel got the French off the mark, dancing his way around the English defence to score to the right of the posts, with Lionel Alazard unable to add the extras.
Nathan Collins pushed England further ahead, collecting a fumble and placing the ball down at the front of his chair to score, Hawkins was again on target to make it 4-18 at the break.
France had the first opportunity to score after half time, following Joe Coyd's interference in the ruck, but Alazard was unable to find his target from the penalty kick, but shortly afterwards Mostefa Abassi stormed in for a try, shrugging off defenders at the line, with Florian Guttadoro adding the conversion which bounced in off the upright.
Hawkins added a further penalty goal for England as Jeremy Bourson removed a second tag too late to make it 10-20, but France rallied at the other end of the pitch, with Guttadoro finding space to touch down but he was unable to slot the easy conversion.
Lewis King was denied a second try as Abassi managed to remove the tag second before the ball was grounded, but shortly after Nathan Collins added a penalty goal as Bourson was penalised for a ball steal.
Collins added his second, taking Jack Brown's long pass superbly on the left side of the pitch, which he then converted.
Guttadoro was dispatched to the sin bin in the 65th minute for a chair pull on Rob Hawkins, reducing France to four players.
Jack Brown made use of the over lap to add a try in the left corner, beating the corner flag to ground the ball with Collins adding the tricky conversion.
Bourson charged his way down the left wing to add a well earned try for his solid match-long performance, but it was nothing more than consolation as Zittel's conversion attempt bounced off the upright.
The World Cup champions repelled the French onslaught for the final minutes of the game to seal the win.
England Wheelchair Rugby League Head Coach, Tom Coyd said: “Our performance today was the perfect way to respond to a really tough lesson against France back at home in Leeds.
"This is only the second time France have been beaten on home soil – the first time also against England in 2019 – so we’ve made history.
“The players are adapting to the external pressure that grows each time that we take to the field - we have such a presence and there’s expectations put on us by things both on and off the pitch.
"I think the players learnt a lot from the gravity of the event when we played at Leeds, and we dealt with the occasion much better today.
“Throughout the game we stayed connected, everyone backed each other, and we didn’t respond to any of the opposition’s aggressions. We defended well today, and we really shut them down.
"Bourson looked untouchable during the last game but today I don’t think he made one break.”
France 18 Tries: Adrien Zittel (18), Mostefa Abassi (48), Florian Guttadoro (52), Jeremy Bourson (68); Goals: Lionel Alazard (0/2), Florian Guttadoro (1/2), Adrien Zittel (0/1)
England 34 Tries: Lewis King (1), Rob Hawkins (11), Nathan Collins (29), Nathan Collins (62), Jack Brown (66) – Goals: Rob Hawkins (4/5), Nathan Collins ( 3/3)
France: Lionel Alazard, Jeremy Bourson, Adrien Zittel, Yann Verdi, Florian Guttadoro, Nicolas Lemaitre, Damien Dore, Mostefa Abassi
England: Josh Butler, Tom Halliwell, Rob Hawkins, Lewis King, Wayne Boardman, Nathan Collins, Joe Coyd, Jack Brown
Half time: 4 – 18.
Photos: Cyril Langeard
