A pass splitting the French in game (8)
I believe the answer is:
lacrosse
'in game' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'a pass splitting the french' is the wordplay.
'pass' becomes 'cross' (crossing is a kind of passing**).
'splitting' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'the french' becomes 'le'.
'a'+'cross'='across'
'across' put within 'le' is 'LACROSSE'.
(Other definitions for lacrosse that I've seen before include "Like thirteen of the other clues in the French" , "Score's uncertain after the Spanish" , "Ball game using netted stick" , "Game played with netted sticks" , "Sport played with sticks" .)