France women's national rugby union team

France

File:France Rugby Logo.svg
Union	French Rugby Federation
Team kit Change kit
First international
France 4-0 Netherlands (Utrecht, Netherlands 13 April 1982)
Largest win
France 99-0 Japan (Edinburgh, Scotland 17 April 1994)
Largest defeat
New Zealand 109-0 France (Edmonton, Canada 14 September 1996)
World Cup
Appearances	5 (First in 1991)
Best result	3rd place, 1994, 2002, 2006

The France women's national rugby union team are a national sporting side of France, representing them at rugby union. The side first played in 1982.

History

Source: "Des Filles en Ovalie", Editions Atlantica (2005), Written by Jacques Corte / Yaneth Pinilla B. Foreword by Serge Betsen.

There are records of women's rugby being played in France as early as the mid-1890s, and in the 1920s a form of the game called "barette" was very popular, with national championships. However, after the 1930s the game had all but disappeared, and was not revived until 1965 when groups of students in Lyon and Toulouse decided to take part in the great charitable campaign against world hunger. Most of them had brothers and friends who played rugby, so they decide to organise a charity game at Bourg-en-Bresse.

So successful was this that a regular series of games began, with clubs being formed as students graduated, initially mainly in the south. In 1969 a national association - the ARF [Women's Rugby Association] - was formed. Despite initial opposition to the game from both the government and the FFR (who briefly banned any FFR officials from officiating at women's games) by 1976 12 clubs were taking part in national competitions.

In 1982, by which time the number of clubs had more than doubled, the ARF signed a memorandum of understanding was agreed with the FFR which finally gave their gave official backing - and in the same year France took part in the first ever women's rugby international.

Results summary

Note: Although the FFR list all of the following as full internationals or "test matches" in their publications (including their website), they do not award caps for all of the games. In particular no caps have been officially awarded for appearances before 1989 (when the FFR became responsible for women's rugby), and most matches in FIRA tournaments after 2004 are uncapped. As a result there can be a significant difference between the number of appearances players may have made for France and their official number of caps.

Rugby: France internationals 1982- (Full internationals only)

Opponent	First game	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Percentage
Australia	1998	3	2	0	1	66.67%
Belgium	1988	1	1	0	0	100.00%
Canada	1996	12	8	0	4	66.67%
England	1991	33	9	0	24	27.27%
Germany	1997	1	1	0	0	100.00%
Great Britain	1986	4	3	0	1	75.00%
Ireland	1994	20	17	1	2	85.00%
Italy	1985	15	13	1	!	90.00%
Japan	1988	2	2	0	0	100.00%
Kazakhstan	1998	3	3	0	0	100.00%
Netherlands	1982	12	11	0	1	91.67%
New Zealand	1996	4	0	0	4	0.00%
Scotland	1998	20	15	0	5	75.00%
South Africa	2009	1	0	1	0	50.00%
Spain	1989	18	13	0	5	72.22%
Sweden	1988	4	4	0	0	100.00%
United States	1996	8	5	1	2	68.75%
Wales	1994	18	15	0	3	83.33%
Summary	1982	179	122	4	53	69.27%

Squad

Squad for 2010 Women's Rugby World Cup

Forwards Céline Barthelemy Nadége Labbey Stéphanie Loyer Gaelle Mignot Clémence Ollivier Laetitia Salles Clémence Audebert Aida Ba Cyrielle Bouisset Hasna Rhamouni Manon Andre Claire Canal Marie Charlotte Hebel Amandine Vaupre Sandra Rabier

Backs Stéphanie Provost Marie Alice Yahe Aurélie Bailon Audrey Parra Sandrine Agricole Lucille Godiveau Fanny Horta Elodie Poublan Céline Allainmat Caroline Ladagnous Anais Lagougine

Results

See Women's international rugby for information about the status of international games and match numbering

Full internationals

{{wrugbybox | test# = 1023| date = 2014-02-01 (6N) | nohome = France | score = 18-6 | noaway = Italy| stadium = Stade des Alpes, [[Grenoble]| code = 180/208/34|}}

External links

• Template:Fr icon Official website of the Fédération Française de Rugby
• News on Planet-Rugby.com
• France on IRB.com