| France | |
| Type: | Women |
| Union: | French Rugby Federation |
| Captain: | Gaëlle Hermet |
| Coach: | Gaëlle Mignot & David Ortiz |
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| World Rugby Rank: | 4 |
| World Rugby Rank Date: | 15 July 2024 |
| World Rugby Max: | 2 |
| World Rugby Max Year: | 2005–2006, 2015–2016 |
| World Rugby Min: | 6 |
| World Rugby Min Year: | 2008–2009 |
| First Game: | 0–4 (Utrecht, Netherlands; 13 June 1982) |
| Largest Win: | 99–0 (Edinburgh, Scotland; 17 April 1994) |
| Largest Loss: | 0–109 (Edmonton, Canada; 14 September 1996) |
| World Cup Apps: | 9 (First in 1991) |
| World Cup Best: | 3rd 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.
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.
On 2 September 2024, France announced their 30-player squad for the WXV 1 competition that will be held in Canada.[1] [2]
The following France players have been recognised at the World Rugby Awards since 2001:[5]
| width=40 align=center | Year | width=170 | Nominees | width=170 | Winners |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Delphine Plantet | align=center rowspan=4 | — | ||
| 2014 | Safi N'Diaye | ||||
| 2015 | Gaëlle Mignot | ||||
| 2016 | Gaëlle Mignot (2) | ||||
| 2018 | Jessy Trémoulière | Jessy Trémoulière | |||
| 2019 | Pauline Bourdon | align=center rowspan=5 | — | ||
| align=center rowspan=2 | 2021 | Caroline Boujard | |||
| Laure Sansus | |||||
| 2022 | Laure Sansus (2) | ||||
| 2023 | Gabrielle Vernier | ||||
| width=40 rowspan=2 | Year | Forwards | Backs | width=40 rowspan=2 | Total | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| width=40 | width=170 | Players | width=40 | width=170 | Players | ||
| align=center rowspan=3 | 2021 | 1. | Annaëlle Deshayes | 9. | Laure Sansus | align=center rowspan=3 | 6 |
| 2. | Agathe Sochat | 10. | Caroline Drouin | ||||
| 4. | Safi N'Diaye | 14. | Caroline Boujard | ||||
| 2022 | 5. | Madoussou Fall | 9. | Laure Sansus (2) | 2 | ||
| align=center rowspan=2 | 2023 | align=center rowspan=2 colspan=2 | — | 9. | Pauline Bourdon | align=center rowspan=2 | 2 |
| 12. | Gabrielle Vernier | ||||||
| width=40 | Year | width=80 | Date | width=170 | Nominee | width=130 | Match | width=120 | Tournament | width=170 | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| align=center rowspan=2 | 2021 | 3 April | Emilie Boulard | vs. Wales | Six Nations | align=center rowspan=2 | Emilie Boulard | ||||
| 17 April | Romane Ménager | vs. Ireland | Six Nations | ||||||||
| 2023 | 23 April | Charlotte Escudero | vs. Wales | Six Nations | — | ||||||
The following France players have been recognised in the Women's Six Nations Awards since 2020:[6] [7] [8]
| width=40 | Year | width=170 | Nominee | width=170 | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Caroline Boujard | — | |||
| align=center rowspan=2 | 2022 | Madoussou Fall | align=center rowspan=2 | Laure Sansus | |
| Laure Sansus | |||||
| 2023 | Gabrielle Vernier | Gabrielle Vernier | |||
| 2024 | Romane Ménager | — | |||
| width=40 | Year | width=170 | Nominee | width=90 | Match | width=170 | Winner | width=30 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Annaëlle Deshayes | vs. Italy | — | [9] | |||||
| width=40 rowspan=2 | Year | Forwards | Backs | width=40 rowspan=2 | Total | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| width=40 | width=170 | Players | width=40 | width=170 | Players | ||
| 2022 | 4. | Madoussou Fall | 9. | Laure Sansus | 2 | ||
| align=center rowspan=3 | 2023 | align=center rowspan=3 colspan=2 | — | 9. | Pauline Bourdon | align=center rowspan=3 | 3 |
| 12. | Gabrielle Vernier | ||||||
| 13. | Marine Ménager | ||||||
| align=center rowspan=2 | 2024 | 4. | Manaé Feleu | align=center rowspan=2 colspan=2 | — | align=center rowspan=2 | 2 |
| 8. | Romane Ménager | ||||||
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.
See also: List of France women's national rugby union team matches. (Full internationals only)
Correct as of 29 April 2023
| 1998 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 80% | ||
| 1988 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100% | ||
| 1996 | 16 | 9 | 0 | 7 | 56.25% | ||
| 1991 | 54 | 14 | 0 | 40 | 25.92% | ||
| 2022 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100% | ||
| 1997 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100% | ||
| 1986 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 75% | ||
| 1994 | 31 | 27 | 1 | 3 | 87.09% | ||
| 1985 | 27 | 22 | 1 | 4 | 81.48% | ||
| 1991 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 100% | ||
| 1998 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 100% | ||
| 1982 | 12 | 11 | 0 | 1 | 91.66% | ||
| 1996 | 10 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 40% | ||
| 1998 | 29 | 23 | 1 | 5 | 79.31% | ||
| 2009 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 80% | ||
| 1989 | 19 | 14 | 0 | 5 | 73.68% | ||
| 1991 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 100% | ||
| 1996 | 13 | 10 | 1 | 2 | 76.92% | ||
| 1994 | 29 | 25 | 0 | 4 | 86.20% | ||
| Total | 1982 | 267 | 183 | 5 | 79 | 68.53% |
|---|
See main article: France women at the Rugby World Cup.