BRIDPORT were beaten by Rugby Club Lege-Cap Ferret 87-5 in a home pre-season friendly, that saw the club repay the favour after the Blues went to France earlier this year.

Following their successful junior trip in May to Rugby Club Lege-Cap Ferret in Bordeaux, Bridport Rugby Club invited their first team to Bridport.

The French party of 30 including 20 players and club officials, headed by club president Benjamin Fournol and tour organiser Reinier Wormskamp arrived in Bridport on Friday 30th to be met by the Blues’ club officials for a welcome lunch at the Leisure Centre.

They were then taken to Freshwater Caravan site where they were staying, for relaxation, before returning to the Brewery Ground for a joint training session with the Bridport players and the evening concluded with a Fish and Chip Supper at the Crown Inn.

On the Saturday morning, the club had arranged for the visitors a private tour of Palmers Brewery which was enjoyed by all present especially bearing in mind the forthcoming match. Several of the French players then walked into town to experience the atmosphere of the Saturday market before returning to the Brewery Ground to prepare for the match against the Blues 1st XV.

Last season, Lege-Cap Ferret gained promotion and with their league due to start next week

this game was taken as a serious preparation for the season to come.

The Blues start their season in two weeks’ time and had 28 players available for the game with a third of them coming up from last season’s Colts team.

The game was played out as four quarters to allow for a rotation of players and for the teams to practice their pre-season training routines.

It was soon evident the French side were superior to the Blues with very large and strong locks and a back line that was very quick with excellent offloading skills.

They quickly ran in tries and with an excellent goal kicker racked up the score.

The Blues maintained their discipline and made Lege-Cap Ferret work very hard for their tries.

After some good work by the forwards, Oz Sullivan drove over for the Blues’ solitary score.

After half-time, the Blues enjoyed some good passages of play with all the Colts putting in good performances both in attack and defence.

However, the French backs proved too strong running in further converted tries to leave a final score of 87-5.

After the match the players were served typical English fare and a presentation of a yard of ale was made to the Lege President which was duly filled and emptied by the players.

As a memory of the history of Bridport and its industry, club captain Harry Richardson presented the Lege captain with a miniature Bridport dagger mounted on a wooden plaque.