France women's national rugby union team

For the men's team, see France national rugby union team. For the women's sevens team, see France women's national rugby sevens team. For the women's rugby league team, see France women's national rugby league team.

France
Shirt badge/Association crest
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  
(Utrecht, Netherlands; 13 June 1982)
Biggest win
  99–0 Japan 
(Edinburgh, Scotland; 17 April 1994)
Biggest defeat
  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

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.

Since 2002, France has won six Women's Six Nations titles and are the next most successful team in the competition after England.[1]

Players

Current squad

France announced their 32 player squad on 2 August for the 2025 Women's Rugby World Cup.[2][3]

Note: The age and number of caps listed for each player is as of 22 August 2025, the first day of the tournament.

Player Position Date of birth (age) Caps Club/province
Manon Bigot Hooker (1990-06-06)6 June 1990 (aged 35) 14 France Blagnac SC
Agathe Gérin Hooker (1995-05-21)21 May 1995 (aged 30) 57 France Stade Bordelais
Élisa Riffonneau Hooker (2003-11-26)26 November 2003 (aged 21) 17 France FC Grenoble Amazones
Makarita Baleinadogo Prop (2002-02-09)9 February 2002 (aged 23) 0 France Stade Bordelais
Rose Bernadou Prop (2000-03-27)27 March 2000 (aged 25) 21 France Montpellier HR
Yllana Brosseau Prop (2000-09-05)5 September 2000 (aged 24) 22 France Stade Bordelais
Annaëlle Deshayes Prop (1996-03-16)16 March 1996 (aged 29) 49 France Stade Bordelais
Assia Khalfaoui Prop (2001-03-24)24 March 2001 (aged 24) 31 France Stade Bordelais
Madoussou Fall Second row (1998-03-17)17 March 1998 (aged 27) 40 France Stade Bordelais
Manaé Feleu Second row (2000-02-03)3 February 2000 (aged 25) 27 France FC Grenoble Amazones
Hina Ikahehegi Second row (2003-04-29)29 April 2003 (aged 22) 4 France Stade Villeneuvois LM
Axelle Berthoumieu Back row (2000-07-09)9 July 2000 (aged 25) 22 France Blagnac SC
Léa Champon Back row (2003-02-25)25 February 2003 (aged 22) 9 France FC Grenoble Amazones
Khoudedia Cissokho Back row (1999-06-22)22 June 1999 (aged 26) 1 France Stade Bordelais
Charlotte Escudero Back row (2000-12-26)26 December 2000 (aged 24) 27 France Stade Toulousain
Teani Feleu Back row (2002-12-19)19 December 2002 (aged 22) 12 France FC Grenoble Amazones
Taïna Maka Back row (2004-12-22)22 December 2004 (aged 20) 2 France FC Grenoble Amazones
Marie Morland Back row (2005-10-05)5 October 2005 (aged 19) 0 France Lyon OU
Séraphine Okemba Back row (1995-12-03)3 December 1995 (aged 29) 8 France Lyon OU
Pauline Bourdon Sansus Scrum-half (1995-11-04)4 November 1995 (aged 29) 66 France Stade Toulousain
Alexandra Chambon Scrum-half (2000-08-02)2 August 2000 (aged 25) 30 France FC Grenoble Amazones
Carla Neisen Scrum-half (1996-03-08)8 March 1996 (aged 29) 27 France Blagnac SC
Carla Arbez Fly-half (1999-05-24)24 May 1999 (aged 26) 13 France Stade Bordelais
Lina Queyroi Fly-half (2001-05-18)18 May 2001 (aged 24) 23 France Stade Toulousain
Lina Tuy Fly-half (2004-09-10)10 September 2004 (aged 20) 8 France ASM Romagnat
Nassira Konde Centre (1999-07-30)30 July 1999 (aged 26) 15 France Stade Bordelais
Gaby Vernier Centre (1997-06-02)2 June 1997 (aged 28) 52 France Blagnac SC
Kelly Arbey Wing (2005-05-09)9 May 2005 (aged 20) 6 France Stade Toulousain
Joanna Grisez Wing (1996-10-05)5 October 1996 (aged 28) 9 France Stade Bordelais
Marine Ménager Wing (1996-07-26)26 July 1996 (aged 29) 58 France Montpellier HR
Émilie Boulard Fullback (1999-08-23)23 August 1999 (aged 25) 36 France Blagnac SC
Morgane Bourgeois Fullback (2003-02-06)6 February 2003 (aged 22) 14 France Stade Bordelais

World Cup squads

Notable players

Award winners

World Rugby Awards

The following France players have been recognised at the World Rugby Awards since 2001:[6]

World Rugby Women's 15s Try of the Year[7]
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 —
2024 29 September Marine Ménager vs. Canada WXV 1 Marine Ménager

Six Nations Awards

The following France players have been recognised in the Women's Six Nations Awards since 2020:[8][9][10][11][12]

Record

Women's
World Rugby Rankings
Top 20 rankings as of 18 August 2025[15]
Rank Change* Team Points
1 Steady  England 97.76
2 Steady  Canada 90.13
3 Steady  New Zealand 88.74
4 Steady   85.72
5 Steady  Ireland 78.81
6 Steady  Australia 76.31
7 Steady  Italy 76.06
8 Steady  Scotland 75.33
9 Steady  Wales 72.18
10 Steady  United States 72.05
11 Steady  Japan 68.83
12 Steady  South Africa 68.04
13 Steady  Spain 63.31
14 Steady  Fiji 59.98
15 Steady  Samoa 59.72
16 Steady  Hong Kong 57.56
17 Steady  Netherlands 57.42
18 Steady  Russia 55.10
19 Steady  Kazakhstan 53.88
20 Steady  Kenya 50.68
*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 19 June 2025

France internationals since 1982
Opponent First played Games played Won Drawn Lost Win rate (%)
 Australia 1998 6 4 0 2 66.67%
 Belgium 1988 1 1 0 0 100%
 Canada 1996 18 9 0 9 50%
 England 1991 57 14 0 43 24.56%
 Fiji 2022 1 1 0 0 100%
 Germany 1997 1 1 0 0 100%
 Great Britain 1986 4 3 0 1 75%
 Ireland 1994 33 29 1 3 87.88%
 Italy 1985 29 24 1 4 82.76%
 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 12 5 0 7 41.67%
 Scotland 1998 31 25 1 5 80.65%
 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 14 11 1 2 78.57%
 Wales 1994 31 27 0 4 87.1%
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
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

References

  1. ^ Harvey, Joe (19 March 2025). "Women's Six Nations 2025: All you need to know including results, fixtures and past winners". Rugby World. Retrieved 19 March 2025.
  2. ^ "XV de France féminin : Le groupe pour la Coupe du monde" [French women's XV: The squad for the World Cup]. Fédération Française de Rugby (in French). 2 August 2025. Retrieved 2 August 2025.
  3. ^ "France declares squad for women's RWC 2025". Rugby World Cup. 2 August 2025. Retrieved 2 August 2025.
  4. ^ a b c World Rugby (18 November 2014). "2014 Inductee: Nathalie Amiel". Retrieved 6 January 2015.
  5. ^ AFP/de (channelnewsasia.com) (18 November 2014). "Rugby: Women enter IRB Hall of Fame for first time". Retrieved 18 November 2014.
  6. ^ "Awards Roll of Honour - World Rugby". www.world.rugby. Retrieved 16 March 2024.
  7. ^ "France's Boulard wins International Rugby Players Women's Try of the Year". www.sixnationsrugby.com. 6 December 2021. Retrieved 16 March 2024.
  8. ^ "Women's Six Nations Player of the Championship". Six Nations Rugby. Retrieved 18 February 2024.
  9. ^ "Vote for your 2025 Guinness Player of the Championship!". Six Nations Rugby. 29 April 2025. Retrieved 14 August 2025.
  10. ^ "2022 TikTok Women's Six Nations Team of the Championship revealed". Six Nations Rugby. 14 May 2022. Retrieved 18 April 2024.
  11. ^ "Revealed: The Fans' 2024 Team of the Championship". Six Nations Rugby. 16 May 2024. Retrieved 18 May 2024.
  12. ^ "The 2025 Guinness Women's Six Nations 'Team of The Championship'". Six Nations Rugby. 28 April 2025. Retrieved 14 August 2025.
  13. ^ "Try of the Championship - Vote Now". sixnationsrugby.com. Women's Six Nations. 2 May 2024. Retrieved 2 May 2024.
  14. ^ "Classy Grisez scoops Try of the Championship". Women's Six Nations. 20 May 2025. Retrieved 14 August 2025.
  15. ^ "Women's World Rankings". World Rugby. Retrieved 18 August 2025.
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