Thornton excited by French trip

York coach Gary Thornton is excited to experience a rugby league trip to France for the first time this weekend.

He takes his City Knights side to Perpignan to play Catalan in the fifth round of the Tetley’s Challenge Cup on Sunday.

The former Batley coach has never coached in France, having resigned from the Bulldogs back in 2009, before they played Toulouse, who were in the Championship between 2009-2011, away from home.

He said: “It’s a first time experience for me. A few of the boys have gone before, but it’s great for the younger players who have never experienced anything like that before.

“We’ll get as much as we can out of it. We’ll go there with no dual-registered players, to get as much as we can and learn and bond from it, and hopefully have an enjoyable experience.”

York will face French opposition for the second time in the Challenge Cup this season, having seen off Toulouse 30-28 in the last round.

Sunday’s game will be the first time Catalan and York have ever played each other.