Wests Tigers hosted the French U/19s squad on Friday afternoon as they visited the Zurich Centre to kick off their tour of Australia.
The team arrived in Sydney on Friday morning and will be based in Wests Tigers territory at Campbelltown for the next three weeks.
Their trip will culminate in a match against the Australian Schoolboys side on October 8th.
Among those greeting the touring party were Wests Tigers NRL star Lachlan Galvin, as well as rising Pathways stars, Marc Tannous, Pheonix Godinet and Riley Oitmann.
Wests Tigers NSW Women’s Premiership player Elisa Akpa, captain of the French women’s national rugby league team, also helped conduct the tour.
The 32-year-old forward expressed her excitement at the young French team’s opportunity to experience the facilities of an NRL system.
“It’s massive for them, especially at Wests Tigers, it's amazing,” Akpa said.
“We have amazing facilities here and they never saw that in France.
“It's a great experience for the U/19s because, for France, Australia is like the centre of the world for rugby league and are considered the best in the world.”
Former French international half, Gilles Dumas, is a member of the touring party and also spoke on the benefits the tour will provide to the teenage outfit.
“After visiting the Wests Tigers facilities today, I saw many of them expressing passion for what they’re seeing at the moment.
“We are used to playing against the English, Irish or Scottish, but we’ve never been together to this part of the world.
“It’ll be great to be together for three weeks and to play against a team from a different nation that plays a different style of footy.”
All at Wests Tigers would like to wish the squad well for the remainder of their trip.
