Following France’s 78-4 loss to Samoa at the Rugby League World Cup, both captain Ben Garcia and head coach Laurent Frayssinous have said why NRL involvement in Europe is imperative.

The French side have gone 18 years without a win down under, with their last victory on Australian soil coming against Scotland in the 2008 World Cup. That stat doesn’t look like changing any time soon with the nation dismantled by a Samoa outfit full of NRL megastars.

Melbourne Storm speedster Sua Fa’alogo scored five tries after coming on as an early substitute for the injured Deine Mariner. France’s only score came through Catalans’ Guillermo Aispuro-Bichet, who had to move to the wing following a failed HIA for Leo Darrelatour. Frayssinous also explained post-match how the squad had lost both Alrix Da Costa and Julian Bousquet to injury in mid-week.

At the last World Cup, Samoa defeated France 62-4, so with an increase in margin of 16 points, the French boss put Samoa’s improvement in that time down to the gap between Super League and NRL widening.

Frayssinous said: “I have a question for you, do you think the NRL is far better now than four years ago?” After the media agreed it had, he added: “You’ve got your answer.

“Since the last time we played them, the last World Cup, I think they’ve got a better team… The NRL keeps growing and keeps getting better every year.

“Watching NRL every year, it’s at the top, [it’s a] step up. Doesn’t it mean Super League doesn’t [improve]? No. Super League is better every year, but maybe not as fast as the NRL. That’s the difference.”

Whilst the foundations of a good French side are there, captain Garcia went on to add that the nation needs help if it wants to progress both at the top level and at grassroots.

He said: “Just an example, when Samoa got the [Deine] Mariner injury, they put [Sua] Fa’alogo on the field, and he’s one of the best players in the NRL. We don’t have this luck in France.

“I think we try to survive. It’s hard, but we are all passionate about our sport. I think it’s a tough loss. It’s a big loss, but we will keep going.

“We are all passionate about rugby league. Maybe you don’t understand where we are in France, the situation. It’s people like Laurent and us in the dressing room who will keep growing our sport worldwide, but we need a bit of help.”

Asked if they would like to see the NRL take over in France, as they plan to do in England, Frayssinous said: “Yes, definitely.

“Again, what the NRL has done here is so good. What they bring to the game is great. We want the NRL to do the same in Europe. Simple as that. For us, there is no question mark at all.”

Should that takeover come to fruition, the French boss said it is imperative that they help to develop the grassroots game first, with a bottom-up approach having much more of a long-term effect.

“Grassroots first, definitely,” he explained. “Don’t get me wrong, there are some great Super League clubs. Catalans is a great Super League club. Like Wigan, they’re already well settled.

“Instead of having 20 community clubs looking after Leeds or Wigan or St. Helens, can we have 40 or 50? Same with Catalans, instead of having four clubs in their region, can we have 10 in the next two years and 20?

“Can we have more children, more kids who play rugby league in France, in Europe? That’s what we want. That’s the start. After that, the future will be better.”

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