France

Union	French Rugby Federation
Head coach	Gaëlle Mignot & David Ortiz
Captain	Gaëlle Hermet
First colours Second colours
World Rugby ranking
Current	3 (as of 9 January 2023)
Highest	2 (2005–2006, 2015–2016)
Lowest	6 (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
Appearances	9 (First in 1991)
Best result	3rd place, 1991, 1994, 2002, 2006, 2014, 2017 and 2021

The France women's national rugby union team (French: équipe de France féminine de rugby à XV) 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

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.

• French squad during the 2014 Six Nations
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Current squad

France announced their final squad on 2 October 2023 for the inaugural WXV 1 tournament in New Zealand.^[1]

Player	Position	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Club/province
Agathe Sochat	Hooker	(1995-05-21)21 May 1995 (aged 28)	32	Stade Bordelais
Laure Touyé	Hooker	(1996-05-12)12 May 1996 (aged 27)		Montpellier HR
Yllana Brosseau	Prop	(2000-09-05)5 September 2000 (aged 23)		AC Bobigny 93 Rugby
Clara Joyeux	Prop	(1998-01-10)10 January 1998 (aged 25)	30	Blagnac Rugby Féminin
Assia Khalfaoui	Prop	(2001-03-24)24 March 2001 (aged 22)	14	Stade Bordelais
Coco Lindelauf	Prop	(2001-01-17)17 January 2001 (aged 22)		Blagnac Rugby Féminin
Ambre Mwayembe	Lock	(2004-04-06)6 April 2004 (aged 19)	2	FC Grenoble Amazones
Élisa Riffonneau	Lock	(2003-09-03)3 September 2003 (aged 20)	3	Ealing Trailfinders
Madoussou Fall	Lock	(1998-03-17)17 March 1998 (aged 25)		Stade Bordelais
Manaé Feleu	Lock	(2000-02-03)3 February 2000 (aged 23)	3	FC Grenoble Amazones
Audrey Forlani	Lock	(1991-11-19)19 November 1991 (aged 31)	47	Blagnac Rugby Féminin
Kiara Zago	Lock	(2005-10-11)11 October 2005 (aged 18)		Stade Toulousain
Axelle Berthoumieu	Flanker	(2000-07-09)9 July 2000 (aged 23)	9	Blagnac Rugby Féminin
Léa Champon	Flanker	(2003-11-28)28 November 2003 (aged 19)		FC Grenoble Amazones
Charlotte Escudero	Flanker	(2000-12-26)26 December 2000 (aged 22)	11	Blagnac Rugby Féminin
Gaëlle Hermet	Flanker	(1996-06-12)12 June 1996 (aged 27)	38	Stade Toulousain
Émeline Gros	Number 8	(1995-08-19)19 August 1995 (aged 28)	20	FC Grenoble Amazones
Océane Bordes	Scrum-half	(2002-05-16)16 May 2002 (aged 21)		Stade Toulousain
Pauline Bourdon	Scrum-half	(1995-11-04)4 November 1995 (aged 27)	38	Stade Toulousain
Alexandra Chambon	Scrum-half	(2000-08-02)2 August 2000 (aged 23)	14	FC Grenoble Amazones
Carla Arbez	Fly-half	(1999-05-24) 24 May 1999	4	Stade Bordelais
Morgane Bourgeois	Fly-half	(2003-02-06)6 February 2003 (aged 20)	1	Stade Bordelais
Lina Queyroi	Centre	(2001-05-18)18 May 2001 (aged 22)		Blagnac Rugby Féminin
Nassira Konde	Centre	(1999-07-30)30 July 1999 (aged 24)		Stade Bordelais
Gabrielle Vernier	Centre	(1997-06-12)12 June 1997 (aged 26)	30	Blagnac Rugby Féminin
Cyrielle Banet	Wing	(1994-08-29) 29 August 1994	18	Montpellier HR
Marine Ménager	Wing	(1996-07-26)26 July 1996 (aged 27)		Montpellier HR
Caroline Boujard	Wing	(1994-01-06)6 January 1994 (aged 29)	26	Montpellier HR
Émilie Boulard	Fullback	(1999-08-23)23 August 1999 (aged 24)	23	Blagnac Rugby Féminin
Suliana Sivi	Fullback	{{{age}}}		Stade Rennais Rugby

Record

Women's
World Rugby Rankings

Top 20 rankings as of 25 December 2023^[2]

Rank	Change*	Team	Points
1		England	096.18
2		New Zealand	090.56
3		France	087.89
4		Canada	086.27
5		Australia	081.61
6		Wales	076.67
7		Italy	075.61
8		Scotland	074.37
9		United States	072.02
10		Ireland	071.52
11		Japan	069.38
12		Spain	064.89
13		South Africa	064.37
14		Russia	061.10
15		Netherlands	060.02
16		Samoa	059.57
17		Fiji	058.65
18		Hong Kong	058.31
19		Sweden	056.01
20		Kazakhstan	055.97
*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

See also: List of France women's national rugby union team matches

(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

Main article: France women at the Rugby World Cup

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

Notable players

• Nathalie Amiel was inducted into the IRB Hall of Fame on 17 November 2014.^[3][4] She made her international debut at 15 against Great Britain in London in 1986. She went on to win 56 caps for France by the time she retired in 2002.^[3] She played at three Women’s Rugby World Cups in 1991, 1994 and 2002.^[3]

See also

• Rugby union in France
• France national rugby union team (men's team)

References

External links

• (in French) Official website of the Fédération Française de Rugby
• News on Planet-Rugby.com
• France on IRB.com