The Topdeck ANZAC Cup game will take place in Villers-Bretonneux in France this Saturday the 26^th of April at 3:30pm.

The Australian team will take on the French team led by Thomas Urban, President of the CNFA and coach of the French national team:

“The 2014 Topdeck ANZAC Cup is a very important step for the French National team this year. We need to confirm our last great performance from the 2013 Axios Euro Cup in Bordeaux [France reached the Grand Final in the competition] and prepare the team for the International Cup. For 70% of the players this game will be their first international game representing the French team.

Even more importantly, this year marks the celebration of the World War 1 centenary and we would like to highlight the French-Australian friendship through this event.”

Most of the French clubs will be represented in the French team:

Paris Cockerels: Stephen CASSAVETTI

Cergy-Pontoise Coyotes: Thomas COCHET

Alfa Lions: Thomas DEPONDT

Strasbourg Kangourous: Joévin L’HOTELLIER

Bordeaux Bombers: Yoann ALLIOT-MARTY, Alban SCHIEBER (Captain), Cyril DEBET

Toulouse Hawks: Yvan BARBARIA, Adrien DAVID, Julien GIL, Simon MONDIN, William TAPIA, Florian VIDAL

The Australian players will come from all around Europe and Australia to play this important game and represent their country.

Australia: Phil CLEGGET, Joe DURLING, David HIGGS, Paddy HIGGS, Sam HIGGS, Matt HOOK, Dale HOUSDEN, Oliver HOWARD, Jack LAWSON, Ben MACCORMACK (Coach), Patrick MCGRATH, Ryan PRICE, Tom RISCHBIETH, Ben ROGERS, Brendan STEAD.

The umpires for the game will be Niels SCHONNEMANN and George WOOD.

After having run the London Marathon on the 13^th of April, the AFL Europe CEO Ben MacCormack is ready to coach the Australian’s and is looking to redeem the 40 point loss from 2013. “This is a real highlight of the AFL Europe calendar that has been developed by the CNFA, the local towns ABA members and some proud Aussie’s over the years. It is a real privilege for AFL Europe to be involved and we will have our Chairman Chris Dow and Commission Member Michelle Morgan with their families present for the event. The town makes such an effort to host proceedings throughout the week and we would like to give special thanks to Xavier and his team of volunteers for all the work put in to make the event happen”. MacCormack said.

“Having Topdeck (naming rights) and the Australian Embassy in France (best player medals) support the event also shows that companies want to connect with this important commemoration for the ANZAC’s that fought on the fields that we now play games of footy on. It’s a special weekend and I hope a big crowd can get along to see an exciting contest.” MacCormack concluded.

Although rivalry will be high the most important feature of the day will be to honor and celebrate those who gave their lives to form an integral part of our shared history.

Event updates will be available on AFL Europe social media.

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