Tim Grimsey said he was proud to have played his part in helping the England Counties rugby team make history in France.

The Colchester Sixth Form College tutor, who is from Great Bentley, was on the coaching team that guided the England side to a 24-15 victory against France Federale XV in Perigueux.

It was the first time that the England Counties team – which draws players from outside the top two levels of English rugby and is effectively the England third team behind the full senior and Saxons sides – had won on French soil.

And Grimsey said he was thrilled to have been involved.

The former Colchester Rugby Club head coach said: “It was a massive performance as it was a really big game.

“There were about 10,000 people in the stadium.

“I’ve never been involved in a game like that before and being able to say that we’ve won out in France and that I was a part of something that has never been achieved before is amazing.

“I was working closely with the head coach, Steve Pope, in coaching the forwards and it was a great experience.

“We had some brilliant lads like Darren Fox, who has played more than 250 games for Northampton Saints, and getting to coach people like him is amazing.

“I was even more involved for this game than the last one (against Scotland) as I had to do all the prep with the lads for the line-outs.

“We worked hard with them before the game and looking at the technical aspects and it all came together really well in the game.

“The feedback I’ve had has been great as they’ve said I was a great help to the players.

“France struggled to win any decent ball in the line-outs and I can’t honestly think of any time they threatened our line.”

The England Counties team’s next outings will now come on a tour of Romania in the summer.