I posed the question of the thread on the assumption that France would play close to its best possible team.
Quote JEAN CAPDOUZE="JEAN CAPDOUZE"Best possible French team (revised):
[iMorgan Escare
Fouad Yaha, Anthony Gigot, Vincent Duport, Jordan Sigismeau,
Thomas Bosc
Theodore Fages
Jason Baitieri
Gregory Mounis, Benjamin Garcia,
Remi Casty, Eloi Pelissier, Olivier Elima[/i
[uInterchange[/u: [iJohn Boudebza, Julian Bousquet, Mickael Simon, Kevin Larroyer[/i
Injury replacements: [iGadwin Springer, Kane Bentley, Antoni Maria, Mathias Pala, Jean Philippe Baile, Luc Albert, Damien Cardace[/i
Duport is most unlikely to play, and Casty also is recovering from surgery so doubtful.
For me the crucial factor for France being able to hold England to less than 18 or not is the coach.'"
It turns out that 11 of the 13 run on players in the team that I named did not play.
We all know that there is no depth to France's talent pool, so to miss 11 of the 13 first choice run on team players virtually guaranteed an annihilation by England.
This French team was obviously France A, not France. The situation was farcical. Both the French Federation and RFL bear responsibility for the holding of this farcically uneven contest. You cannot expect the France A team to compete with France, let alone England. The team selection turned the thread question into a purely abstract exercise.