March 14, 2026
Today saw a proud moment for Chinnor RFC as they were selected to host an England Under 18 international. This was to be England U18’s first home match for 3 years, and according to the official blurb, Chinnor was selected due to their Champ Rugby standard facilities, medical provisions, grass pitch and its location. All tickets for the match had been sold in advance of the game so a record attendance at Kingsey Road was expected.
There were to be three meetings between England and France this weekend, the 6 Nations clash tonight in the Stade de France, tomorrow’s Under 20 match in La Rochelle, and this game against Les Bleuets as the French Under 18s are referred to. On their website, the French Rugby Federation applied the traditional “Le Crunch” phrase to all three games !
England Under 18s
The last home England Under 18s match was played at Esher in March 2023, with France narrowly winning 24-29. The England side that day was captained by future British Lion Henry Pollock whilst two Bath players, prop Billy Sela and hooker Kepu Tuipulotu had since represented England A.
Fatbear would be taking notes on the today’s players to see if any would in future years be added to the list of players who had graced the Chinnor pitch and then went on to become internationals. Members of this club currently included Ellis Genge, Eliot Millar-Mills, Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, Joe Marlar, Ross Moriarty, Ben Vellacott, Billy Burns, Max Malins and Christian Wade !
Today’s game was a friendly in preparation for the 2026 Six Nations Under 18 tournament being held in April in Vichy, France. England are due to play Ireland, Georgia and Italy, hence now playing France in a friendly.
The 2025 edition was also held in France, and England won all three of their matches, including a 29-27 victory over France, as well as 43-19 against Spain and 71-5 over Scotland. England also won their three matches in the 2024 competition held in Italy, beating Wales 36-35, Scotland 28-6 and Georgia 26-19.
In the last three years, England’s Under 18’s had also travelled in August to South Africa to participate in an International Series. Last year, England lost all three of their matches, 24-69 to South Africa, 20-51 to France and 31-35 to Georgia. In addition to their victory over England, France played South Africa twice, beating an B side 40-14 but lost to the A team 21-43.
France withdrew from the 2024 International Series after the tragic death of Medhu Narjissi, who had been swept out to sea in Cape Town prior to the start of the competition. England managed to beat Georgia 27-20 but lost 28-42 to Ireland and 14-39 to South Africa
In 2023, England beat France 41-0 and a Western Province Under 18 side 76-15, but lost 19-33 to South Africa. France beat South Africa 37-24 and Western Province 85-20
Matchday Information
Under 18 internationals are usually played over 70 minutes, and this was the case today.
Tickets for the game were £21 for ground entrance and £25 tickets for Chinnor’s new stand but all tickets had been sold four days before the match.
Being an international, the national anthems of both countries were played before the kick-off.
The Japan Under 19 squad were present at the game, having arrived this week for a two-match tour, with games scheduled against Harlequins Academy and England Under 19. Fatbear had a brief chat with a couple of their players before kick-off.
In anticipation of the huge crowd, a second car park had been arranged on the Showground, and there was an additional bar taking the total up to 8. In addition, the food vendors included a fish and chip wagon and an ice-cream van, in addition to the usual burger, pizza and crepe outlets. There were also three coffee/tea vendors on site.
The weather at the 14.00 kick-off was cloudy but with patches of blue sky, and the temperature was 10 degrees. The infamous Chinnor breeze was present and a factor with some of the kicking.
The match was streamed live on the England Rugby YouTube Channel.
All bar one of the England starting line-up plus all of the replacements were with Premiership clubs, the exception being Yorkshire Academy prop Ben Smith. However, no club had more than two players starting, and Northampton Saints and Newcastle Red Bulls were not represented at all. Saints though, had a player on the bench, Sonny Goode, who is the son of former Chinnor player Matt Goode !
England’s captain was centre Declan Treacey from Bath, who was the most experienced member of the side with 8 Under 18 caps. His elder brother Connor was captain of the England Under 20s tomorrow, so it was a special weekend for the Treacey family !
Twelve French clubs were represented in the France starting line-up, 8 of which were in the Top 14 and 4 in Pro D2. The captain was back-row forward Mathieu Palmier from Clermont Auvergne.
France were in the traditional blue shirts, with white shorts and red socks, whilst England were in all white.
The referee was Dan Evans from Scotland.
Match Report
England kicked off towards the ring-road end and got off to a flying start. An attempted clearance kick from French full-back Tom Delalain was charged down by England lock Fin Charles and a subsequent knock-on gave England a scrum 5 metres from the French try-line. England moved the ball from the set-piece and Treacey was tackled short of the line, but number 8 Leo Dickenson was in support to barge over under the posts. Fly-half Zac Jones added an easy conversion so England led 7-0 with three minutes on the clock.
France looked to immediately hit back and lock Bambo Sambou made a break through the middle of the England defence into the England 22. However, he lacked support for an offload, but France were able to retain possession and moved through the hands to their right, but winger Ilian Sonko Basin put a foot in touch as he headed into the corner.
England knocked on at the line-out to give France a 5-metre scrum. Good defence from the English pushed France back well outside of the 22, until being pinged by the referee. Scrum-half Valentin Bouju took a quick tap and got to within 10 metres of the line before being tackled. With a penalty advantage France launched several attacks which were repelled until another penalty was conceded close to the line, which was kicked for a 5-metre line-out.
Palmier claimed the throw but England infringed for another penalty. This time France took a tap rather than go for the corner but again the England defence was good and forced France to go backwards, until wing Yanis Brosset ran along the touchline but knocked on in the tackle. However, play was taken back for an earlier knock on by England to give France a scrum just inside the England 22.
The England pack produced a good shove but the referee decided for a reset. France won their scrum but were again unable to make any impression on the high press defence, so fly-half Bastien Deguerre opted for a chip ahead, which England full-back Oli Hewitt caught and called for the mark, and then cleared to the England 10 metre line.
Cleo Bard won the line-out for France, but the referee spotted something at the maul, and awarded a scrum to England on their 10-metre line. England moved the ball along their backline, and Charlie Bosanko and Hewitt exchanged passes to take play into the French half, and several drives took England to the 22 metre line. Scrum-half Will Bayston weaved his way past a couple of defenders until being tackled 5 metres short of the line. Prop Smith was in support to barrel his way under the posts with two tacklers hanging onto him. Jones again added the straightforward extras, making the score 14-0 after 15 minutes.
England attempted to run from the restart but Treacey’s attempted offload went forward in the tackle for a scrum to France in the centre of England’s half. Number 8 Christian Mendes Tani picked up from the base of the scrum, but when the move reached Brosset the winger was bundled into touch.
Charles won the line-out for England and Dickenson went rampaging into the French half, flattening Delalain in the process. Jones’ attempted a cross-field kick for Caspar Reeves drifted in the wind and just out of reach of the England winger, who would have had a clear run for the line had he been able to take the catch.
France won their line-out and moved through the hands to the left where Delalain kicked a grubber towards the corner, and Brosset tackled the covering Jones into touch 15 metres from the England line.
Palmier won the line-out for France, who had several attacks for the line that were defended, but eventually the pressure told and two defenders were unable to stop centre Louis Favrau bursting over the whitewash. The left-footed conversion from Delalain was good, taking the score to 14-7 after 22 minutes.
Favreu made the initial break from the restart, but Brosset picked up the loose ball to scorch into the England 22 before being brought down. France reworked possession and Daguerre’s pass enabled lock Gaston Lagneau to run 15 metres to score. Delalain added a super conversion, perfectly judged with the breeze to level the scores at 14-14 with 23 minutes played.
When Bonju cleared the restart, Junior Denny, from inside his own half, ran into the France 22 but France were able to win turnover ball, and kicked back into the England half. Jones kicked back to Bonju whose return kick bounced unkindly away from Jones. France gathered and pressed, but Dickenson was able to dive on a loose ball to give England possession on the edge of their 22 and Bayston was able to make a clearing kick. Unfortunately for England, Sonko Basin won the aerial duel with Reeves, and weaved his way down the touchline past three would be tacklers for a sensational try. Delalain again superbly added the extras with his left boot, again curling in with the breeze. The score was now 14-21 after 27 minutes.
Shortly after the restart, France moved play to their left until Favrau kicked deep into the England 22. Hewitt was covering but the French attackers swarmed all over him, but England were able clear. After a little bit of Basketball, Delalain broke in to the England half, France reworked their possession and set-up Sonko Basin to run down the touchline to score despite the best effort of Reeves to pull him back by his shirt. Delalain was again impeccable from the tee from out wide. France now led 28-14 with 30 minutes played.
Gaetan Ngassa kicked the restart off for an England line-out mid-way inside the French half, which Jeremy Keys tapped back and England set-up Denny to run to with 10 minutes from the French line. England tried to spread to the left, but a loose pass enabled Bouju to fly-hack into the England half, and the scrum-half was the quickest to run onto the ball. It looked like Jones had made a try saving tackle just outside the England 22, but Bouju was able to make an impressive offload for Palmier to catch and saunter over the tryline. Delalain wasn’t going to miss in front of the posts so the score moved to 14-35 after 33 minutes.
England’s response was for Treacey to make a strong run then pass to Reeves, who was tackled short. With a penalty advantage, the furious England attacks were repelled so it was back to the penalty. However, the simple kick for Jones to set-up a 5 metre line-out was kicked dead, and the referee blew for half-time.
With 5 converted tries in 15 minutes, France had totally turned the match around, and already it felt like a case of how many ?
France made three changes at the break, but when the game restarted, England quickly conceded a penalty at a ruck, and replacement Gael Totele kicked to 5 metres. Palmier won the line-out and after the rolling maul was halted, substitute prop Noah Traini dived over through some weak tackling for the 6th try for France. Despite being his first conversion from the left-hand side of the pitch, this was no problem for Delalain, who again slotted a difficult kick between the uprights. It was now 14-42 after 37 minutes.
After a good cross-field run by Jones under pressure, England were awarded a penalty near the half-way line for offside, but the kick from Jones to the corner was again poor and stayed in play. Totele’s clearing kick was also poor, going straight down the throat of Reeves who counter-attacked. England recycled possession and Treacey stepped inside to get to within 10 metres of the try-line. Back-row forwards Kwame Bekoe and Jack Lewis both drove for the line before Dickenson was held-up as he attempted to cross the whitewash to give France a goal-line drop-out.
Play became scrappy and Mendes Tani and Lewis engaged in some off-the-ball handbags. Treacey then saw a kick charged down and England were penalised for not rolling away, which France kicked to England 10 metre line.
At this point France brought on all their remaining seven substitutes in a mass exchange !
The French forwards then showed good hands to put Mendes Tani in space and the number 8 ran towards the try-line. Although tackled short of the line giant replacement prop Wesley Masima was on hand to gather and flop over the try-line. Predictably, Delalain knocked over the conversion, extending the lead to 49-14 with 43 minutes played.
Charles won a line-out for England and France were penalised for going over the top when England attacked in midfield. Hweitt now took over place kicking duties and nudged his side up to 10 metres from the French line. Bekoe won the lineout and Tracey had enough strength to muscle his way under the posts from close range. Replacement Max Hooper knocked over the conversion, taking the score to 21-49 after 47 minutes.
England’s joy was short-lived as shortly after the restart, prop Aiden Reid dropped a pass and France pounced to claim possession. A few drives later, Palmier burst through two tackles to score his second try of the day, and Delalain was again good from the tee. 21-56 in the 49th minute.
After France stole an England line-out, Marius Audemar Ghion knocked on to give England a scrum in a central position in the France half. England moved the ball wide to Archie Guyver, who sped down the touchline before being tackled, and when England attempted to rework possession, lock Sambou deliberately knocked on and was shown a yellow card for 7 minutes in the sin-bin.
The penalty was kicked to 5 metres, and although a French hand knocked the line-out forward, Treacey gathered, and a smart offload enabled Bosanko to dive over from close range. Hooper again converted to make it 28-56 in the 55th minute.
France were still after more tries and a chip from Raphael Oliveira bounced into touch close to the England corner flag. Charles won the line-out for England, and Sonny Goode was able to clear to touch on the England 10 metre line.
France won their line-out through Palmier, and Totele sliced through the England defence and gave a simple pass for Timeo Gillouin Lemaire to run under posts. Delalain maintained his 100% record from the tee and made it 9 from 9. The score was now 28-63 after 58 minutes.
France won another England line-out and attacked but Guillaume Didey knocked on close to the touchline. England’s attacking play was desperate, until a long, floated pass from Hooper found Henry Johnson in space near the touchline, and the Leicester back-row forward gave a hand-off to Audemar Ghion and ran to the corner for a consolation try. Hooper’s attempted conversion slid wide of the far post so the score was 33-63 with 62 minutes played.
France claimed the steepling restart and pressed, but this time the England defence was good, but France had the input at the subsequent scrum. France went wide and Delalain was tackled short of the line, and France knocked on to give England a scrum 5 metres from their line.
France were awarded a free-kick at the scrum, and took a quick tap but they were unable to make a breakthrough, forcing Totele to chip high to the far corner but Guyver superbly beat Sonko Basin in the aerial challenge and set off on a blistering run to the 10-metre line. England knocked on and France engaged in some thrilling Barbarians extravagant running rugby, until they knocked on inside the England 22.
England were awarded a penalty at the scrum when they appeared to be going backwards, and Hooper sent an excellent kick to take play up to their 10-metre line. Charles won the line-out for England, who spread the ball to their left, and Hewitt’s grubber kick forced Gillouin Lemaire to carry the ball into his in goal area, but the scrum-half did well to kick to touch as several England players bore down on him.
England attacked frantically in the closing stages, and with the last play a long pass reached Guyler who dived for the line, but Sonko Basin produced a try saving tackle to push the England player into touch, and the referee blew for full time.
In summary, this was a marvellously entertaining game, with some top quality rugby from both sides. Several of the French side looked like future internationals, with Delalain, Sonko Basin, Brosset and Palmier in particular catching the eye. For England, no individual player particularly stood out, but let’s see what the next few years bring !
England Under 18s ( 15 to 1 ) : Hewitt ( Gloucester ) – Denny ( Gloucester ), Bosanko ( Exeter ), Treacey ( Bath ), Reeves ( Bristol ) – Jones ( Saracens ), Bayston ( Sale ) – Dickinson ( Harlequins ), Lewis ( Northampton ), Bekoe ( Leicester ) – Keys ( Exeter ), Charles ( Leicester ) – Smith ( Yorkshire Academy ), Wheeler ( Bristol ), Reid ( Northampton )
Replacements ( 16 to 25 ): Elone ( Saracens ), Hattingh ( Sale ), Batikora ( Leicester ), Allen ( Bath ), Westlake ( Exeter ), Johnson ( Leicester ), Goode ( Northampton ), Hooper ( Bath ), Bennett ( Saracens ), Guyver ( Exeter )
France Under 18s ( 15 to 1 ) : Delalain ( Agen ) – Sonko Basin ( La Rochelle ), Favrau ( Bègles Bordeaux ), Ngassa ( Vannes ), Brosset ( Clermont Auvergne ) – Daguerre ( Bayonne ), Bouju ( La Rochelle ) – Mendes Tani ( Toulon ), Bard ( Lyon ), Palmier ( Clermont Auvergne ) – Sambou ( Toulouse ), Lagneau ( Racing ) – Tafili ( Brive ), Lam ( US Colomiers ), Tambo Fantcho ( Bègles Bordeaux )
Replacements ( 16 to 25 ) : Méité ( Stade Francais ) , Freynet ( Bègles Bordeaux ) , Traini ( Clermont Auvergne ), Masima ( Provence ), Suta ( Toulon ), Gillouin Lemaire ( Castres ), Oliveira ( Massy Essonne ), Totele ( Grenoble ), Audemar Ghion ( Castres ), Didey ( Stade Francais ), Elder Lozano ( Oyonnax )
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