2017 Williams Shield
The 2017 Williams Shield is a one-off three-match test series contested by the Florian Republic national rugby league team and Etourney national rugby league team. The Etourney national rugby league team is to play a match against Northsilver Panthers in a warm-up match.
Background
In early 2017, the Florian Republic entered the qualifying campaign for the 2017 FMRL World Cup and narrowly missed out by a point. To fill the absence of them at the tournament the FRFL invited the Etourney national rugby league team, to compete in a one-off series. To fill the Gulf of both teams, The Etourney national rugby league team was permitted to choose heritage players currently playing in the Florian Super League. This will be the first time that the Etourney national rugby league team play a full member of the FMRL. The team previously took on the Florian Police and Army in the Florian Tri-series.
To prepare for the series, Northsilver Panthers offered to play the Etourney team as a warm-up match.
Squads
| Florian Republic | Position | Etourney |
|---|---|---|
 Dylan Austin
|
Fullback | Cameron Blanc 
|
 Adam Rogers
|
Wing | Rhys Gaines 
|
| Rhys Baxter (K) (C)
|
Centre | Bradley Ward 
|
| Leo Bell
|
Centre | Tom Jacks
|
| Nicholas Foster
|
Wing | Jacob Scott
|
 John Webb
|
Five-Eighth | Alex Clark 
|
| Kyrie Shepard
|
Halfback | Nathan Gordon 
|
 Adam Young
|
Prop | Bailey Price
|
 Jesus Skinner
|
Hooker | Jensen Dimont
|
| Ernest Lee
|
Prop | David Lee
|
 Anthony Walker
|
2nd Row | Mike Perkins 
|
| Sean Powell
|
2nd Row | Adam Baillieu 
|
| Jenson Cole
|
Lock | Thierry Kléber
|
| Sam Lee
|
Interchange | Égide Naudé
|
| Oliver Berry
|
Interchange | Wilfrid Jaubert 
|
 Riley Bates
|
Interchange | Patrice Duchamp 
|
| Samuel Stone
|
Interchange | Igor Sadoul
|
| Lewis Day
|
Interchange | Igor Sadoul
|
| Lucas Watson
|
Interchange | Franco Barnier
|
| Jack Rowley | Coach | Colin Duchemin |
Venues
The four matches will be played at the following venues in the Florian Republic.
| Northsilver | Newmarsh | Dragonmoor | Northcliff |
|---|---|---|---|
| Panthers Arena | Olympic Stadium | Red Bear Park | Northcliff Arena |
| Capacity: 25,586 | Capacity: 40,000 | Capacity: 60,000 | Capacity: 75,000 |
|
|
.jpg)
|
|
Fixtures
Game 1
| |||||||
| Date | 12th November 2017 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Venue | Panthers Arena, Northsilver | ||||||
| Man of the Match | Bailey Price | ||||||
| Referee | James Walker | ||||||
| Attendance | 24,261 | ||||||
12th November 2017
19:30 FST |
| Northsilver Panthers
|
12 – 12 |  Etourney
|
|---|---|---|
Panthers Arena
Attendance: 24,261 Referee: James Walker |
Test 1
| |||||||
| Date | 19th November 2017 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Venue | Olympic Stadium, Newmarsh | ||||||
| Referee | Ben Taylor [MER] | ||||||
| Attendance | 38,737 | ||||||
19th November 2017
19:30 FST |
Florian Republic 
|
22 – 6 | Etourney
|
|---|---|---|
Olympic Stadium, Newmarsh
Attendance: 38,737 Referee: Ben Taylor |
Test 2
| |||||||
| Date | 25th November 2017 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Venue | Red Bear Park, Dragonmoor | ||||||
| Referee | Ben Taylor [MER] | ||||||
| Attendance | 56240 | ||||||
Test 3
| |||||||
| Date | 2nd December 2017 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Venue | Northcliff Arena, Northcliff | ||||||
| Referee | Ben Taylor [MER] | ||||||
| Attendance | 75,000 | ||||||
Women's
- Game One: Florian Republic 50-4 Etourney
- Game Two: Florian Republic 42-0 Etourney
- Game Three:Florian Republic 84-0 Etourney
Aftermath
The Florian Republic won the series 3-0. After the match, plans were made for a series in 2018, however, there is an issue du to the FMRL World Cup and FMRL Four Nations.
