The French receiving a pass in game (8)
I believe the answer is:
lacrosse
'in game' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'the french receiving a pass' is the wordplay.
'the french' becomes 'le' ('the' in French).
'receiving' indicates putting letters inside.
'pass' becomes 'cross' (crossing is a kind of passing).
'a'+'cross'='across'
'le' placed around 'across' is 'LACROSSE'.
(Other definitions for lacrosse that I've seen before include "Like thirteen of the other clues in the French" , "Game played with a netted stick" , "Ball game using netted stick" , "Game played with netted sticks" , "Score's uncertain after the Spanish" .)