RUGBY LEAGUE; Banquet spoils Edwards' appetite for game

Ireland 22 France 24

AN INJURY-TIME try and goal by Freddie Banquet gave France a thrilling victory in the first full international to be played on Irish soil last night.

An Irish team inspired by Shaun Edwards seemed to have done enough to win the match after settling their early nerves, but the French showed a resilience for which they have not always been noted by first narrowing the margin through a try by Claude Sirvent seven minutes from time and then snatching the spoils in the third minute of time added on.

It was a cruel ending for Ireland who had struggled to find their rhythm early in the game - perhaps not surprising in view of how little training they had been able to do together.

They fell behind to a try from Jean-Marc Garcia when his kick rebounded back to him from the Irish hooker John Lawless.

But Edwards was playing this match as though it was a Test against Australia or New Zealand and it was his pass to Richard Smith, followed by his characteristic backing-up that put Ireland level.

France led again through Patrice Benausse and two goals from Banquet, but Edwards produced the score that narrowed the margin before half-time when he moved the ball, via Cliff Eccles to Smith.

Edwards was also instrumental in Ireland's taking the lead for the first time, in front of a small but enthusiastic crowd at Tolka Park here in Dublin, although his dummy and dart for the try line a minute into the second half should not have fooled an international defence.

A two-point advantage, courtesy of Tommy Martyn's conversion, never looked a secure one although when the Irish captain, Martin Crompton, took Barrie McDermott's pass to go weaving through for a try again, converted again by Martyn, it seemed the Irish must do it.

But despite the efforts of Edwards and the home-grown hero in Brian Carney, a Gaelic footballer from Whitlow who only took up the game in May, they could not quite hand on to what they had earned.

IRELAND: Prescott (Hull); Carney (Dublin), Smith (Hull KR), Forster (Warrington), Child (Featherstone); Martyn (St Helens), Edwards (London); Harmon (Bradford), Lawless (Sheffield), McDermott (Leeds), Pickavance (Huddersfield), Cassidy (Wigan), Crompton (Salford). Substitutes used: Eccles (Salford), Burgess (Salford), Gray (Bangor), Cleary (Dublin).

FRANCE: Banquet (Villeneuve); Benausse (Carcassonne), Dulac (St Gaudens), Vergniol (Tonneins), Gironella (XIII Catalan); Garcia (St Esteve), Devecchi (Villeneuve; Sands (Villefranche), Wulf (Villeneuve), Guisset (St Esteve), Tallec (Castleford), Sort (Carpentras), Jampy (XIII Catalan). Substitutes used: El Khalouki (Toulouse), Teixido (Limoux), Bloomfield (Villeneuve), Sirvent (St Gaudens).

Referee: C Albi (France).

The New Zealand coach, Frank Endacott, has named an unchanged side for Saturday's Second Test against Great Britain at Bolton, where they aim to wrap up their first Test series victory in Britain for 27 years. They won the First Test 22-16 last Saturday.