Honours even on Sharks’ French exchange tour

The Sharks Under-15s defeated Tonniens 28-12 with a hat trick of tries from Zack Moore and a 70-metre effort by Declan Brereton.

Tom Griffiths and Eddie Macina scored the other two and Jay Webster and Macina kicked a goal apiece.

They then lost to Villeneuve 24-20 with tries coming from Curtis Hodgson, Brandon French, Declan Ellis and Harrison Pratt.

Hodgson and Macina also landed a conversion each.

The Sharks’ Under-14s beat Villeneuve 28-8 with tries from Nik Davis, Joe Halloran, Scott Carter, Owen Lumb and Dale Smith. Luke Hooley kicked four goals.

Lumb’s try was the most spectacular beating the French defence in a length of the field race to score between the posts.

The Under-14s lost 12-6 against Tonniens with their try coming from winger Ben Lyles converted by Hooley

The boys stayed with French families and during the tour they made educational and cultural visits to a wine making factory, an aquarium, the medieval village of Domme and the famous Dune du Pilat – a giant sandbank which is 100 metres high and a holiday attraction.

They were given a civic reception by the Mayor of Villeneuve who praised the importance of the youth exchange between the countries which has been running since 1970. Gifts were exchanged and the 40 boys each received a t-shirt from the Mayor.

The tour was led by Alan Smith and Tracy Grimwood while next year the French boys will be returning to Shaw Cross.