List of France national rugby union team records explained

France's national rugby union team is the nation's representative side. The team has played Test match rugby since 1906, when they played New Zealand national rugby union team in Paris. The record for most Test match appearances, or caps, is held by Fabien Pelous with 118. Serge Blanco played for France between 1980 and 1991, and has scored 38 Test tries for France – more than any other player. The record for most Test points is held by Frédéric Michalak, who has scored 422 points for France in his 74 Test matches to date.

Caps

The following is a list of the ten French team players with the highest number of Test appearances. Updated France vs England, 16 March 2024.[1]

NameCareer yearsCapsTriesPoints
1 1995–2007 118 8 40
2 1982–1995 111 30 125
3 1996–2007 98 8 40
4 1980–1991 93 38 233
5 2013–present 90 17 85
6 1997–2007 89 14 70
7 2001–2011 86 14 128
8 2003–2015 85 1 5
9 1998–2011 84 3 15
10 2004–2015 83 7 35

Career tries

The following is a list of the ten French team players with the most Test tries. Updated France vs England, 16 March 2024.[2]

NameCareer yearsTriesCapsAvg per game
1 1980–1991 38 93
2 Damian Penaud 2017–present 36 53
3 2002–2013 34 67
4 1990–1997 32 69
5 1982–1995 30 111
6 1992–2001 26 41
1994–2000 26 46
8 1998–2007 25 67
9 1957–1967 23 40
2001–2012 23 76

Career points

The following is a list of the ten French team players with the most Test points. Updated France vs England, 16 March 2024.

PlayerCareer SpanPointsCapsTriesCon.Pen.DGAve.
1 2001–2015 436 77 10 61 79 9
2 1996–2001 380 37 2 59 78 6
3 2002–2012 373 61 2 51 85 2
4 2008–2019 370 71 3 47 86 1
5 1989–1997 367 43 6 32 89 2
6 1982–1993 354 36 12 48 59 11
7 2019–present 337 36 5 66 59 1
8 1999–2003 267 32 3 36 57 3
9 1972–1977 265 34 4 27 56 9
10 1995–2007 252 54 18 42 21 5

Points in a match

PlayerPositionPointsTriesCon.Pen.DGResultOppositionDate
1 30 3 9 0 0 70–12 02/06/1987
2 28 1 4 3 2 43–31 31/10/1999
28 1 4 4 1 51–9 25/10/2003
4 27 0 9 2 1 60–13 26/03/1967
27 0 3 5 2 42–33 18/11/2000
27 1 2 6 0 32–23 16/06/2001
27 1 11 0 0 87–10 16/09/2007
8 26 0 1 8 0 36–12 10/06/1995
26 0 4 6 0 61–18 11/10/2003
10 25 1 3 5 0 33–14 12/06/1976
25 1 6 3 0 49–3 11/11/1987
25 2 3 3 0 38–10 26/05/1995

Last updated: France vs England, 16 March 2024. Statistics include officially capped matches only. [3]

Tries in a match

TriesPlayerPositionResultOppositionDate
4 61–3 04/05/1924
43–5 17/10/1937

Last updated: France vs England, 16 March 2024. Statistics include officially capped matches only. [4]

Matches as captain

PlayerSpanCapsTotal capsWin % as captain
1 2009–2015 56 79 48.21%
2 1997–2006 42 118 64.28%
3 1998–2007 41 98 63.41%
4 1978–1984 34 59 58.82%
1994–1997 34 69 73.52%
6 2016–2019 33 74 39.06%
7 1986–1988 25 33 74.00%
1999–2003 25 64 66.00%
9 1948–1952 24 33 52.08%
10 1961–1966 22 63 79.54%

Last updated: Wales vs France, 10 March 2024. Statistics include officially capped matches only. [5]

Youngest players

PlayerAgeDOBDebutOpposition
1 18 years 7 days 20/11/1948 27/11/1966
2 18 years 84 days 09/10/1895 01/01/1914
3 18 years 99 days 04/10/1929 11/01/1948
4 18 years 129 days 29/08/1888 05/01/1907
5 18 years 141 days 13/08/1912 01/01/1931
6 Christopher Tolofua 18 years 168 days 31/12/1993 16/06/2012
7 18 years 190 days 18/07/1912 24/01/1931
8 18 years 279 days 14/06/1890 20/03/1909
9 18 years 335 days 28/09/1935 29/08/1954
10 Gael Fickou 18 years 355 days 26/03/1994 16/03/2013

Last updated: France vs England, 16 March 2024. Statistics include officially capped matches only. [6]

Oldest players

PlayerAgeDOBLast MatchOpposition
1 37 years 329 days 17/02/1925 12/01/1963
2 37 years 249 days 01/10/1949 07/06/1987
3 36 years 233 days 15/06/1953 03/02/1990
4 36 years 138 days 30/01/1959 17/06/1995
5 35 years 201 days 01/04/1956 19/10/1991
6 35 years 179 days 14/09/1976 11/03/2012
7 35 years 156 days 01/04/1914 04/09/1949
8 35 years 152 days 20/05/1972 19/10/2007
9 35 years 147 days 23/05/1980 17/10/2015
10 35 years 143 days 17/01/1972 09/06/2007

Last updated: France vs England, 16 March 2024. Statistics include officially capped matches only. [7]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: France / Most matches . . 3 October 2019.
  2. Web site: France / Most individual tries . 3 October 2019 . ESPN (UK) .
  3. Web site: Rugby Teams, Scores, Stats, News, Fixtures, Results, Tables - ESPN.
  4. Web site: Rugby Teams, Scores, Stats, News, Fixtures, Results, Tables - ESPN.
  5. Web site: Rugby Teams, Scores, Stats, News, Fixtures, Results, Tables - ESPN.
  6. Web site: Rugby Teams, Scores, Stats, News, Fixtures, Results, Tables - ESPN.
  7. Web site: Rugby Teams, Scores, Stats, News, Fixtures, Results, Tables - ESPN.