France women's national rugby union team

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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France named a 36-player squad on 7 March for the 2023 Women's Six Nations Championship.[1]

Note: Flags indicate national union for the club/province as defined by World Rugby.

Player	Position	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Club/province
Julie Annery	Flanker	(1995-06-12) 12 June 1995	13	Stade Bordelais
Carla Arbez	Fly-half	(1999-05-24) 24 May 1999	4	Stade Bordelais
Cyrielle Banet	Wing	(1994-08-29) 29 August 1994	18	Montpellier HR
Rose Bernadou	Prop	(2000-03-27) 27 March 2000	12	Montpellier HR
Axelle Berthoumieu	Flanker	(2000-07-09) 9 July 2000	9	Blagnac Rugby Féminin
Caroline Boujard	Wing	(1994-01-06) 6 January 1994	26	Montpellier HR
Émilie Boulard	Fullback	(1999-08-23) 23 August 1999	23	Blagnac Rugby Féminin
Pauline Bourdon	Scrum-half	(1995-11-04) 4 November 1995	33	Stade Toulousain
Morgane Bourgeois	Fly-half	(2003-02-06) 6 February 2003	1	Stade Bordelais
Alexandra Chambon	Scrum-half	(2000-08-02) 2 August 2000	14	FC Grenoble Amazones
Léa Champon	Flanker	2003 (aged 20)	0	FC Grenoble Amazones
Annaëlle Deshayes	Prop	(1996-03-16) 16 March 1996	25	Stade Bordelais
Célia Domain	Hooker	(2000-04-29) 29 April 2000	7	Blagnac Rugby Féminin
Margaux Ducès	Scrum-half	(2003-08-19) 19 August 2003	1	Stade Rennais Rugby
Marie Dupouy	Centre	(2001-11-02) 2 November 2001	3	Blagnac Rugby Féminin
Charlotte Escudero	Flanker	(2000-12-26) 26 December 2000	11	Blagnac Rugby Féminin
Manaé Feleu	Lock	(2000-02-03) 3 February 2000	8	FC Grenoble Amazones
Maëlle Filopon	Wing	(1997-05-27) 27 May 1997	18	Stade Toulousain
Audrey Forlani	Lock	(1991-11-19) 19 November 1991	24	Blagnac Rugby Féminin
Lilou Graciet	Fullback	(2004-02-26) 26 February 2004	0	Lyon OU
Émeline Gros	Number 8	(1995-08-19) 19 August 1995	20	FC Grenoble Amazones
Gaëlle Hermet	Flanker	(1996-06-12) 12 June 1996	38	Stade Toulousain
Clara Joyeux	Prop	(1998-01-10) 10 January 1998	30	Blagnac Rugby Féminin
Assia Khalfaoui	Prop	(2001-03-24) 24 March 2001	14	Stade Bordelais
Maé Levy	Centre	(2004-11-09) 9 November 2004	0	Montpellier HR
Coco Lindelauf	Prop	(2001-01-17) 17 January 2001	16	Blagnac Rugby Féminin
Mélissande Llorens	Wing	(2002-06-18) 18 June 2002	9	Blagnac Rugby Féminin
Marine Ménager	Wing	(1996-07-26) 26 July 1996	30	Montpellier HR
Romane Ménager	Number 8	(1996-07-26) 26 July 1996	30	Montpellier HR
Ambre Mwayembe	Lock	2004 (aged 19)	2	FC Grenoble Amazones
Maëlle Picut	Flanker	2000 (aged 23)	4	Blagnac Rugby Féminin
Élisa Riffonneau	Lock	2003 (aged 20)	3	Stade Rennais Rugby
Agathe Sochat	Hooker	(1995-05-21) 21 May 1995	32	Stade Bordelais
Mabinty Sylla	Wing	(2000-02-03) 3 February 2000	0	Stade Bordelais
Jessy Trémoulière	Fullback	(1992-07-29) 29 July 1992	28	ASM Romagnat Rugby Féminin
Gabrielle Vernier	Centre	(1997-06-12) 12 June 1997	30	Blagnac Rugby Féminin

Women's World Rugby Rankings
Top 20 rankings as of 15 May 2023[2]
Rank	Change*	Team	Points
1		England	094.55
2		New Zealand	093.19
3		France	089.62
4		Canada	084.67
5		Australia	078.00
6		Wales	077.00
7		United States	076.80
8		Italy	074.63
9		Scotland	071.19
10		Ireland	071.09
11		Japan	067.94
12		Spain	066.35
13		South Africa	066.15
14		Russia	061.10
15	1	Netherlands	060.02
16	1	Hong Kong	059.22
17		Fiji	058.33
18		Samoa	058.01
19		Kazakhstan	057.09
20		Sweden	056.01
*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 21 November 2021

France internationals since 1982

Opponent	First played	Games played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Win rate (%)
Australia	1998	5	4	0	1	80.00
Belgium	1988	1	1	0	0	100.00
Canada	1996	15	8	0	7	53.33
England	1991	50	14	0	36	28.00
Germany	1997	1	1	0	0	100.00
Great Britain	1986	4	3	0	1	75.00
Ireland	1994	29	25	1	3	86.21
Italy	1985	23	19	1	3	82.61
Japan	1988	3	3	0	0	100.00
Kazakhstan	1998	3	3	0	0	100.00
Netherlands	1982	12	11	0	1	91.67
New Zealand	1996	9	4	0	5	44.44
Scotland	1998	27	23	1	5	85.19
South Africa	2009	4	3	1	0	75.00
Spain	1989	19	14	0	5	73.68
Sweden	1988	4	4	0	0	100.00
United States	1996	13	10	1	2	76.92
Wales	1994	27	23	0	4	85.19
Total	1982	246	168	5	73	68.29%

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

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]

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

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