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France women's national rugby union team

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
France
UnionFrench Rugby Federation
Head coachGaëlle Mignot & David Ortiz
CaptainGaëlle Hermet
First colours
Second colours
World Rugby ranking
Current4 (as of 15 July 2024)
Highest2 (2005–2006, 2015–2016)
Lowest6 (2008–2009)
First international
 Netherlands 0–4 France 
(Utrecht, Netherlands; 13 June 1982)
Biggest win
 France 99–0 Japan 
(Edinburgh, Scotland; 17 April 1994)
Biggest defeat
 France 0–109 New Zealand 
(Edmonton, Canada; 14 September 1996)
World Cup
Appearances9 (First in 1991)
Best result3rd place, 1991, 1994, 2002, 2006, 2014, 2017 and 2021

The France women's national rugby union team represents France in women's international rugby union. They played the first-ever women's rugby union test match against the Netherlands on 13 June 1982. They compete annually in the Women's Six Nations Championship and have placed third in seven of nine Rugby World Cup's.

History

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Source: "Des Filles en Ovalie", Éditions 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 decided 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 official backing – and in the same year France took part in the first ever women's rugby international.

Players

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Current squad

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On 2 September 2024, France announced their 30-player squad for the WXV 1 competition that will be held in Canada.[1][2]

Player Position Date of birth (age) Caps Club/province
Rose Bernadou Prop (2000-03-03)3 March 2000 (aged 24) 14 France Montpellier HR
Axelle Berthoumieu Flanker (2000-07-09)9 July 2000 (aged 24) 14 France Blagnac Rugby Féminin
Manon Bigot Hooker (1990-06-06)6 June 1990 (aged 34) 7 France Blagnac Rugby Féminin
Maïlys Borak Prop (2004-01-12)12 January 2004 (aged 20) France Stade Bordelais
Yllana Brosseau Prop (2000-09-05)5 September 2000 (aged 24) 13 France Stade Bordelais
Charlotte Escudero Back row (2000-12-26)26 December 2000 (aged 23) 21 France Stade Toulousain
Madoussou Fall Second row (1998-03-17)17 March 1998 (aged 26) 31 France Stade Bordelais
Manaé Feleu Second row (2000-02-03)3 February 2000 (aged 24) 18 France FC Grenoble Amazones
Teani Feleu Flanker (2002-12-19)19 December 2002 (aged 21) 4 France FC Grenoble Amazones
Émeline Gros Number 8 (1995-08-19)19 August 1995 (aged 29) 34 France FC Grenoble Amazones
Hina Ikahehegi Second row (2003-04-29)29 April 2003 (aged 21) 1 France Stade Villeneuvois
Assia Khalfaoui Prop (2001-03-24)24 March 2001 (aged 23) 24 France Stade Bordelais
Romane Ménager Number 8 (1996-07-26)26 July 1996 (aged 28) 63 France Montpellier HR
Ambre Mwayembe Prop (2004-03-01)1 March 2004 (aged 20) 11 France FC Grenoble Amazones
Séraphine Okemba Prop (1995-12-03)3 December 1995 (aged 28) 1 France Lyon OU Rugby
Élisa Riffonneau Hooker (2003-11-26)26 November 2003 (aged 20) 10 France FC Grenoble Amazones
Agathe Sochat Hooker (1995-05-21)21 May 1995 (aged 29) 53 France Stade Bordelais
Chloé Vauclin Prop (2005-05-07)7 May 2005 (aged 19) France Stade Rennais
Cyrielle Banet Wing (1994-08-29)29 August 1994 (aged 30) 28 France Montpellier HR
Océane Bordes Scrum-half (2002-05-16)16 May 2002 (aged 22) France Stade Toulousain
Émilie Boulard Fullback (1999-08-28)28 August 1999 (aged 25) 32 France Blagnac Rugby Féminin
Pauline Bourdon Sansus Scrum-half (1995-11-04)4 November 1995 (aged 28) 58 France Stade Toulousain
Alexandra Chambon Scrum-half (2000-08-02)2 August 2000 (aged 24) 23 France FC Grenoble Amazones
Chloé Jacquet Centre (2002-04-17)17 April 2002 (aged 22) 19 France Lyon OU Rugby
Nassira Konde Centre (1999-07-30)30 July 1999 (aged 25) 11 France Stade Bordelais
Mélissande Llorens Wing (2002-06-18)18 June 2002 (aged 22) 10 France Blagnac Rugby Féminin
Marine Ménager Wing (1996-07-26)26 July 1996 (aged 28) 49 France Montpellier HR
Lina Queyroi Fly-half (2001-05-18)18 May 2001 (aged 23) 14 France Stade Toulousain
Lina Tuy Fly-half (2004-09-10)10 September 2004 (aged 20) 4 France ASM Romagnat
Gabrielle Vernier Centre (1997-06-12)12 June 1997 (aged 27) 46 France Blagnac Rugby Féminin

Previous squads

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Notable players

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Award winners

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World Rugby Awards

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The following France players have been recognised at the World Rugby Awards since 2001:[5]

World Rugby Women's 15s Try of the Year
Year Date Nominee Match Tournament Winner
2021 3 April Emilie Boulard vs. Wales Six Nations Emilie Boulard
17 April Romane Ménager vs. Ireland Six Nations
2023 23 April Charlotte Escudero vs. Wales Six Nations

Six Nations Awards

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The following France players have been recognised in the Women's Six Nations Awards since 2020:[6][7][8]

Record

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Top 20 rankings as of 25 November 2024[10]
Rank Change* Team Points
1 Steady  England 097.56
2 Steady  Canada 089.31
3 Steady  New Zealand 088.64
4 Steady  France 085.11
5 Steady  Australia 078.10
6 Steady  Ireland 078.03
7 Steady  Scotland 076.82
8 Steady  Italy 074.75
9 Steady  United States 074.20
10 Steady  Wales 072.58
11 Steady  Japan 066.41
12 Steady  South Africa 066.18
13 Steady  Spain 065.42
14 Steady  Russia 061.10
15 Steady  Samoa 060.56
16 Steady  Netherlands 060.20
17 Steady  Fiji 059.14
18 Steady  Hong Kong 056.20
19 Steady  Kazakhstan 055.23
20 Steady  Sweden 052.72
*Change from the previous week

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.

Overall

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(Full internationals only)
Correct as of 29 April 2023

France internationals since 1982
Opponent First played Games played Won Drawn Lost Win rate (%)
 Australia 1998 5 4 0 1 80%
 Belgium 1988 1 1 0 0 100%
 Canada 1996 16 9 0 7 56.25%
 England 1991 54 14 0 40 25.92%
 Fiji 2022 1 1 0 0 100%
 Germany 1997 1 1 0 0 100%
 Great Britain 1986 4 3 0 1 75%
 Ireland 1994 31 27 1 3 87.09%
 Italy 1985 27 22 1 4 81.48%
 Japan 1991 3 3 0 0 100%
 Kazakhstan 1998 3 3 0 0 100%
 Netherlands 1982 12 11 0 1 91.66%
 New Zealand 1996 10 4 0 6 40%
 Scotland 1998 29 23 1 5 79.31%
 South Africa 2009 5 4 1 0 80%
 Spain 1989 19 14 0 5 73.68%
 Sweden 1991 4 4 0 0 100%
 United States 1996 13 10 1 2 76.92%
 Wales 1994 29 25 0 4 86.20%
Total 1982 267 183 5 79 68.53%

World Cup

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Rugby World Cup
Year Round Position GP W D L PF PA
Wales 1991 Semi-finals *Third 3 2 0 1 99 13
Scotland 1994 3rd Place Playoff Third 5 4 0 1 240 26
Netherlands 1998 7th Place Playoff 8th 5 2 0 3 52 68
Spain 2002 3rd Place Playoff Third 4 3 0 1 93 58
Canada 2006 3rd Place Playoff Third 5 3 0 2 102 85
England 2010 3rd Place Playoff 4th 5 3 0 2 70 91
France 2014 3rd Place Playoff Third 5 4 0 1 139 42
Ireland 2017 3rd Place Playoff Third 5 4 0 1 175 62
New Zealand 2021 3rd Place Playoff Third 6 4 0 2 190 46
England 2025 Qualified
Australia 2029 TBD
United States 2033
Total 9/9 3rd 43 29 0 14 1160 491
  Champion   Runner-up   Third place   Fourth place
* Tied placing Best placing Home venue

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "XV de France féminin: Le groupe pour le Women XV" [Women's XV of France: The group for the Women's XV]. French Rugby Federation (in French). 2 September 2024. Archived from the original on 10 September 2024. Retrieved 10 September 2024.
  2. ^ Perkins, Bruce (2024-09-23). "All 18 squads for the 2024 WXV". 4 The Love Of Sport. Retrieved 2024-09-28.
  3. ^ a b c World Rugby (18 November 2014). "2014 Inductee: Nathalie Amiel". Retrieved 6 January 2015.
  4. ^ AFP/de (channelnewsasia.com) (18 November 2014). "Rugby: Women enter IRB Hall of Fame for first time". Retrieved 18 November 2014.
  5. ^ "Awards Roll of Honour - World Rugby". www.world.rugby. Retrieved 16 March 2024.
  6. ^ "Women's Six Nations Player of the Championship". Six Nations Rugby. Retrieved 18 February 2024.
  7. ^ "2022 TikTok Women's Six Nations Team of the Championship revealed". Six Nations Rugby. 14 May 2022. Retrieved 18 April 2024.
  8. ^ "Revealed: The Fans' 2024 Team of the Championship". Six Nations Rugby. 16 May 2024. Retrieved 18 May 2024.
  9. ^ "Try of the Championship - Vote Now". sixnationsrugby.com. Women's Six Nations. 2 May 2024. Retrieved 2 May 2024.
  10. ^ "Women's World Rankings". World Rugby. Retrieved 25 November 2024.
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