2001 France rugby league tour of New Zealand and Papua New Guinea

The 2001 French rugby league tour of New Zealand and Papua New Guinea was a tour by the France national rugby league team. Background The French arrived in the Southern Hemisphere having put in mediocre performance in the 2000 World Cup. The side finished with a 2-win, 2 loss record. The two losses being to Papua New Guinea (20-23) and New Zealand (6-54 in the quarterfinals). Squad The French squad included Eric Anselme (St Gaudens), Frederic Banquet (Villeneueve), Patrice Benausse (Carcassonne), David Berthezene (UTC), Laurent Carrasco (Villeneueve), Jean-Emmanuel Cassin (Toulouse), Gilles Cornut, Fabien Devecchi (c - Avignon), Yaccine Dekkiche (Avignon), Arnaud Dulac (St Gaudens), Laurent Frayssinous (Villeneueve), Romain Gagilazzo (Villeneueve), Renaud Guigue (Avignon), Rachid Hechiche (Lyon), Sylvain Houles (UTC), Pascal Jampy (UTC), Patrick Noguerra (Pia), Nicholas Piccolo (Limoux), Artie Shead (Villeneueve), Romain Sort (Villeneueve), Gael Tallec (UTC), Michael Van Snick, Jerome Vincent (Toulouse), Frédéric Teixido (Limoux), Jean-Christophe Borlin (St Gaudens) and Vincent Wulf (Villeneueve).https://archive.today/20130114000555/http://www.postcourier.com.pg/20010531/sport05.htm World Cup squad kept postcourier.com.pg, 31 May 2001 They were coached by Gilles Dumas. Fixtures The test match against New Zealand was celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the first test match held between the two nations in New Zealand, held during the 1951 French tour of New Zealand. The French team also played three matches against regional selections; Northern Districts, Central Districts and the South Island.2001 France tour of New Zealand rugbyleague.co.nz France won all three of these games, defeating the South Island 24–11 at Lancaster Park,French show grit but not enough grunt The Press 4 June 2001French open with nailbiter Sunday Star-Times 3 June 2001 Central Districts 28–26 at the Palmerston North Showgrounds and Northern Districts 40–16 in Huntly. Jeff Whittaker coached the South Island team that featured mainly Canterbury Bulls players.Stokes overlooked for SI coaching job The Press 11 May 2001 The team was captained by Shane Beyers and included Aaron Whittaker.Teams named for French opener AAP Sports News 1 June 2001 Northern Districts included Lance Hohaia and Hare Te Rangi.Waikato five to play France Waikato Times 6 June 2001http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=194639 Battle-weary French maintain hectic schedule Jessup, Peter 13 June 2001 The New Zealand Herald 14 September 2011 Date Opponent Venue Result Score Attendance Report2 JuneSouth IslandLancaster Park, ChristchurchWon24-186 JuneCentral DistrictsPalmerston North Showgrounds, Palmerston NorthWon28-2610 JuneNew ZealandEricsson Stadium, AucklandLoss0-364,50013 JuneNorthern DistrictsDavis Park, HuntlyWon40-1617 JunePapua New GuineaLloyd Robson Oval, Port MoresbyWon27-1615,00020 JunePapua New GuineaDanny Leahy Oval, GorokaLoss24-3412,000 References Category:France national rugby league team tours Category:Rugby league tours of New Zealand Rugby league tour of New Zealand and Papua New Guinea French rugby league tour of New Zealand and Papua New Guinea French rugby league tour of New Zealand and Papua New Guinea Category:Rugby league tours of Papua New Guinea Category:France–New Zealand sports relations Category:France–Papua New Guinea sports relations