Winscombe Under-15s enjoyed a tour to Paris and were beaten by a local club side in an entertaining match.

WINSCOMBE Under-15s enjoyed a fun-filled tour to Paris during the Easter holidays, playing local side Montfort L’Amaury.

Playing to French rules, the scrums were uncontested and Winscombe also found themselves at a disadvantage during the line-outs as the French were experienced at lifting.

Winscombe were slow to get into their stride and Montfort scored three tries in quick succession. However, Adam Elkins was able to drive through the French defence to touch down under their posts.

Enjoying more possession, Winscombe had several fine runs at the Montfort defence, led by Pat Merryfield, Connor Wall and Thomas Amer.

The second half saw Combe playing with more fluidity, but they were continually put under pressure by Montfort. Some great tackling by Kit Butterworth, Sam White and Louis Yallop prevented the hosts from scoring.

Winscombe came within a few yards of scoring on several occasions with great runs from Butterworth and Elkins and eventually pressure from Winscombe resulted in a try for White, but the hosts came back with a well-worked try.

Winscombe came back moments later and it was Butterworth who deservedly reaped the reward for his efforts by scoring an excellent try. Subsequently, Thomas Amer broke clear and looked in a good position to score but unfortunately knocked on. This was deemed to have been deliberate and the hosts were able to score from the resulting penalty to make the final score 17-31.

Winscombe would like to thank everyone at Montfort L’Amaury for the warm and friendly way in which the team, coaches and parents were hosted during the tour.