England Students Roar to Thrilling Le Crunch Victory
- Will Gupwell
- 21 hours ago
- 3 min read
The England Students’ men’s side secured their first victory in ‘Le Crunch Universitaire’ in three years in a thrilling 55-42 encounter with France Universities at the home of Newcastle Red Bulls.
Braces from captain Max Pearce and Ben Taylor, as well as tries from Elliot Gourlay, Max Blinkhorn, Austin Emens, Archie Kean, and Alex Garrett, saw England over the line in an emphatic victory over the French.
A sensational 64 points were scored in the first half alone at Kingston Park with both sides full of attacking intent on a glorious day in the North East of England, but ultimately it was England who came away with their first victory in this fixture since their 25-21 victory in Terrason in 2023.
First Half
France kicked deep from the opening kick-off, which Gourlay kicked back, and the ball bounced awkwardly in open space for the French covering defenders as Gourlay gathered his kick and ran the try in under the posts to take a lead in the opening 30 seconds. England doubled their lead shortly after, this time through their power game as captain Pearce rumbled over at the back of a dominant rolling maul.
However, the French flew right back into the game, earning a penalty in midfield for a high tackle from which they kicked to the corner and earned a penalty try at the resulting maul with George Alexander sent to the sin bin for cynically collapsing the maul.
With the try and the one-man advantage, Les Bleus were suddenly shocked into life, scoring two tries in as many minutes, both times launching their attack from inside their own half, running the ball back at England, with the first finished by Morgan Mignot and the second by Corentin Peccaud, giving the French the lead for the first time in the match.
They would add one more try to their tally before England returned to a full complement as they launched from deep on counter-attack ball with their offload game, causing major concerns for England as Adrien Monteil ran in another for the visiting side.
With England back to a full 15, England were able to find their groove in attack, and it was their turn to stress the French defence as some nice ball handling allowed scrum-half Blinkhorn to dot the ball down to close the gap on the scoreboard.
England’s next score proved that Les Bleus weren’t the only side at Kingston Park who could bring some flair to proceedings as England launched from a scrum on their own five metre line with Taylor and Emens linking up for a gorgeous score.
England were coming into the game and putting the pressure on the French in every aspect, both at set-piece and in the air, and the visitors were struggling to cope as England took back the lead with a score in the corner from Emens and then another from Kean in the same corner just a few minutes later to give England a 12-point lead at the break.
Second Half
England continued into the second period as they left off in the first, with an early try on the board from another rolling maul with captain Pearce over once again.
The hosts’ next score was full of attacking intent. Garrett returned the ball from inside his own 22, putting in a wonderful step and linking up with Tom Riman to go the length of the field, with Garrett finishing off the try of his own making.
Even with the lead at 20 points for England, it never felt comfortable for the hosts with the danger that France possess. There was a quarter of the game left to play, and they cut the deficit on the scoreboard with another try as Mignot crashed over for his second of the afternoon.
In the final ten minutes of the match, England extended their lead through a beautiful link-up between Gourlay and university teammate Taylor, who went over for his second, and despite France getting one final try at the death from Pierre Guillaud, it wasn’t to be enough as England claimed the victory.
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