Ultimately, the RFL insisted that the game be held on the very day of the jubilee,[6] and prepared a contingency plan, in the form of a Great Britain vs. Rest of the World setup.

Early into that game, French star Max Rousié (Villeneuve), who was the face of the upstart nation to the British press,[10][11] injured his knee.

[14] While the forward pack was considered set, France captain and manager Jean Galia found the selection process unusually difficult at other positions.

[14] To test the replacements for Rousié and French Cup finalists Robert Samatan (Lyon-Villeurbanne), François Noguères and Aimé Barde (XIII Catalan), a scrimmage was added at Stade Buffalo between France and a Paris selects team.

[23] Carrère injured himself on a tackle after just 15 minutes, forcing Brané to assume his position,[21] and the French team to play shorthanded for the rest of the period.

[23][21] The Guardian praised the French's offensive flair and thought that their unfamiliarity with the RFL players' habits was the deciding factor, as the home side had only given a passable effort, with the exception of standouts Gee, Dalton and Todd.

[23] Another prominent news outlet, The Daily Telegraph, broadly disagreed, finding the RFL representatives' performance dominant and "excellent in all respects".

While commending their solid tackling and the creativity displayed by their threequarters, the paper felt that the visitors had been undone by their limited passing abilities.

[24] Fullback: Jim Brough (Leeds) Threequarters: Fred Harris (Leeds), Jeff Moores (York), Gordon Innes (Wigan), Stanley Smith (Leeds) Halfbacks: George Todd (Hunslet) (fly-half), Hector Gee (Wigan) (scrum-half) Forwards: Patrick Dalton (Salford) (lock), Alec Troup (Barrow), Jack Dawson (Hull) (second row), Nat Silcock (Widnes) (c), John Hall (Batley), Harry Woods (Liverpool) (front row)[23] Fullback: Marius Guiral (Villeneuve) Threequarters: Marcel Villafranca (Bordeaux), Georges Caussarieu (Paris), Etienne Cougnenc (Villeneuve), A. Pouey (Paris) Halfbacks: ?