AcademyBraley Try Helps England U18s To Victory
England U18s 18-16 France U18s
EPDG Gold member Callum Braley helped England U18s to a hard-fought 18-16 victory over France U18s at Fylde RFC on Sunday.
The Hartpury College scrum-half, who has featured three times in the B&I Cup for Bristol this season, scored a first half try as England kick-started their campaign with a narrow win.
France took an early lead when centre Brandon Fajardo barged his way over to score an unconverted try.
Gloucester’s Billy Burns reduced the arrears with a penalty goal after prop Yousef Amrouni was sin-binned midway through the first period.
Callum Braley weaved across the whitewash for a converted try as England regained the advantage. Burns and his opposite number traded penalties during an attritional second half, before Anthony Watson collected a kick ahead to touch down for England’s second.
French full-back Nicolas Metge scored with the final play of the game, but the conversion sailed wide – earning England U18s their first win of the new season.
Head Coach John Fletcher commented: “It was a tight game, we felt that we probably did enough to score a couple more tries, but we’re delighted to get the win.
“The game lacked a bit of fluidity in the second half and we seemed to get a bit nervous at time, but it’s our first competitive match together and this win will breed confidence.”
