Edgar Retière was the hero for France Under-20s Development side as they produced a stirring late comeback to beat Italy Under-20s in Corsica.
With France’s first-choice Under-20s side currently at a training camp in Portugal, the Development group seized their chance to impress against the Azzurrini.
Retière, the younger brother of France international Arthur, came off the bench to score to set up two tries and kick two conversions before his last-second drop goal earned a 25-24 victory.
The Italians had looked on course for the win when they led by 16 points with quarter of an hour remaining.
Despite Paul Champ’s early try, Italy had been the better team and Tomasso di Bartolomeo’s score allowed them to lead 10-5 at the break.
They added two more tries in quick succession shortly after the hour, the first from replacement scrum-half Alessandro Garbisi, and a second from fly-half Leonardo Marin.
However Retière turned the tide, taking a quick tap from halfway, beating two men and setting up an attack which ended with Paul Vallée racing over.
Retière converted from out wide, and then went on to send full-back Alexandre Tchaptchet in with a wide miss-pass in the latter stages. With time nearly up, he took the difficult conversion with a drop-kick, splitting the uprights to make it a two-point game.
Then, with the final action of the game, France worked their way back into Italian territory and, with a penalty advantage, Retière took a snap drop goal that sealed a dramatic win for Les Bleuets.
