Two for you, two for me: it's double trouble from Morris twins to leave French f

PARIS: Brett Morris felt like he was out in the backyard again with his brother Josh as the twins scored four tries between them against the French in Paris. Which means one thing: lots of sledging.

After Brett scored two tries early in the second half, the younger brother turned to Josh to gloat. ''He was giving me stick asking when I was going to score one,'' Josh recalls. ''There was a bit of friendly banter going on out there.''

But both boys ended the match with doubles - and both did so in short bursts - to give Josh's debut a very Morris flavour.

''I couldn't have asked for a better debut,'' said Josh, although feeling some discomfort after grazing his knees and winding himself after clattering into an advertising hoarding after just two minutes. ''That first half was a bit tough but the second half opened up and to go out there and play alongside Brett and both score two tries, it's something I'll never forget. I had the time of my life out there.''

The banter continued afterwards, when Brett cheekily claimed credit for Josh's first try 67 minutes in.

''Obviously playing the French on debut you'd love to score a try, so I was hoping the ball would come our way so we could get him one,'' Brett said. ''I heard his voice so I just threw the ball back there and he was there to catch it. He scored his first try - [laughs] but I might take that one, seeing as I set it up. Obviously there's no better feeling than scoring a try on debut, and to do it for your country, there's no better feeling. I scored on my debut so I thought it was only fitting that I should give him one on debut.

''The years we have played together,'' he added, ''we know each other in and out. We don't really have to say much to know what each other's doing. It's good we've got that connection. We don't really need that much training together �� we know each other pretty well.

''It was that awesome. It was just like back in the old days playing in the backyard, that's what it was like. We had that much fun out there. We were out there scoring tries and joking around. It was that much fun. I can't wait to do it again.''

Beneath the sibling rivalry, though, there was a more serious side to the Morris's performances. The twins played the game after their family had suffered a tragedy back in Australia through the week. When Josh scored his first, he made a gesture to recognise his family's bittersweet week.

Yet it was an emotional day for other reasons. The match was watched by the pair's father, former St George player Steve, who admitted to shedding a tear. ''To have two boys play for Australia, on the same side of the field, it was very emotional,'' he said. ''When they were playing the national anthem and they were next to each other, I was real teary.''

(Edit:Ruby)