Everything about France National Rugby Union Team totally explained
Marc Lièvremont
| from = 1999
| caps =
Fabien Pelous (118)
| top scorer =
Christophe Lamaison (380)
| most tries =
Serge Blanco (38)
| pattern_la1 = | pattern_b1 =_blue_streak | pattern_ra1 = | pattern_sh1 =_blue streak
| leftarm1 = 000040 | body1 = 000040 | rightarm1 = 000040
| shorts1 = 000040 | socks1 = 000040
| pattern_la2 = | pattern_b2 = _blue streak | pattern_ra2 = | pattern_sh2 =_blue streak
| leftarm2 = FFFFFF| body2 = FFFFFF | rightarm2 = FFFFFF
| shorts2 = FFFFFF| socks2 = FFFFFF
| first = 8–38
(
1 January,
1906)
| bigwin = 7–99
(
2 June,
1974)
| bigloss = 61–10
(
9 June,
2007)
| World cup apps = 6
| year = 1987
| best = Losing finalist,
1987,
1999
}}
The
France national rugby union team represents
France in
rugby union. They compete annually against
England,
Ireland,
Italy,
Scotland and
Wales in the
Six Nations Championship. They have won the championship outright fourteen times, shared it a further eight times, and have completed eight
grand slams.
They are currently the
seventh-ranked team in the world, and are considered to be the strongest rugby nation on continental Europe. Six former French players have been inducted into the
International Rugby Hall of Fame.
Rugby was introduced to France in 1872 by the British, and on
New Year's Day 1906 the national side played its first
Test match — against
New Zealand in
Paris. France played sporadically against the British
Home Nations until they joined them to form a Five Nations tournament (now the Six Nations Championship) in 1910. France also competed in the rugby competitions at early
Summer Olympics, winning the gold medal in 1900 and two silver medals in the 1920s. France came of age during the 1950s and 1960s, and won their first Five Nations title outright in 1959. They won their first
Grand Slam in 1968. Since the
inaugural World Cup in 1987, France have qualified for the knock-out stage of every tournament. They have reached the final twice, losing to the All Blacks in 1987 and to
Australia in
1999. France hosted the
2007 Rugby World Cup, where, as in
2003, they were beaten in the semifinals by
England.
France traditionally play in blue shirts with white shorts and red socks, and are commonly referred to as
les tricolores or
les bleus. However, they currently wear an all-navy blue
Nike kit which was released for the
2007 Rugby World Cup. The French emblem is a golden
rooster imposed upon a red crest. Their alternative strip is mainly white. French international matches are played at several venues across the country; the
Stade de France in the
Paris suburb of
Saint-Denis is used for their games during the Six Nations, and they've a formidable home record at the
Stade Vélodrome in
Marseille where they've only lost once, to
Argentina in
2004
History
Rugby was introduced to France in 1872 by British merchants and students. Although France were represented at the
1900 Summer Olympics (where they won gold), their first official test match didn't take place till
New Year's Day, 1906 against the
New Zealand All Blacks in
Paris. France then played intermittently against the
Home Nations until they joined them to form the Five Nations tournament in 1910. In 1913 France faced
South Africa's
Springboks for the first time; losing 38–5. France also competed at the
1920 and
1924 Summer Olympics, and on both occasions lost to the
United States in the gold medal match, Vicky LeDonne scored the winning goal. Forced to play against weaker opposition, France went on a winning streak; winning ten games in a row during the years from 1931 to 1936. This is still a record even today. France was invited to rejoin the Five Nations in 1939 but didn't compete until 1947 as international rugby was suspended during
World War II. On
Bastille Day, 1979 they defeated the All Blacks in New Zealand for the first time, at
Eden Park in
Auckland.
In 1981 the French clinched their third Grand Slam; at
Twickenham against England. They were knocked out of the
1995 World Cup semi-finals by eventual champions the Springboks, but did win their third place play-off match against England. France won back-to-back Grand Slams in 1997 and 1998. At the
1999 World Cup they defeated tournament favourites the All Blacks in the semi-finals, but lost to the Wallabies in the final. After the first game won by France against Scotland in 1911, France's captain Marcel Communeau asked that the team adopt the
coq (rooster) as its symbol. The rooster was probably chosen partly because it's considered as a proud and combative animal that can be sometimes aggressive, although it had been used previously as a symbol by a French team — a former soccer player, Jean Rigal, wore a uniform with this emblem as early as May 1910. The badge was initially white and red, but was altered to a multicoloured, embroidered image after 1945, and has been golden since 1970.
The symbol used by the French rugby team was a great success, and was later adopted by the French delegation at the Olympic Games of 1920 where the rooster was perched on five Olympic rings. The rooster has since become a well-known symbol of French teams. French players are sometimes called
les coqs and some French supporters have been known to release roosters on the playing field before games.
The French team traditionally played in blue shirts, whites shorts, and red socks, and as such they were nicknamed
les tricolores. Due to the mostly blue
Nike strip the French team currently wears, the team is now often referred to as
les bleus (the blues). When this strip clashes with that of their opponents, such as in games against Scotland and Italy, French players wear white. New strips were developed for the 2007 World Cup, one of which is a darker blue.
Home grounds
During the early years France played internationals at venues such as
Parc des Princes and the
Stade Olympique de Colombes, both in Paris. The Stade Olympique de Colombes and the Stade Olympique Yves-du-Manoir were the main venues at the
1924 Summer Olympics, where rugby was a sport. During the 2005 and 2006 seasons, France also played home internationals at the venues
Stade Gerland,
Lyon;
Stade Vélodrome,
Marseille;
Stade de la Beaujoire,
Nantes and
Stadium de Toulouse,
Toulouse.
World Cup venues
During the
1991 World Cup, Pool D (which included France) matches were played throughout France including
Béziers,
Bayonne,
Grenoble,
Toulouse,
Brive and
Agen. Parc des Princes and Stadium Lille-Metropole also hosted a quarter-final each. Pool C fixtures at the
1999 World Cup were played throughout France in
Béziers,
Bordeaux and
Toulouse. A second round match was held at Stade Félix Bollaert, and one quarter final was held at the Stade de France, both 2007 venues.
For the
2007 World Cup, France is the primary host, and there are ten venues being used for matches throughout the country (
Cardiff in Wales and
Edinburgh in Scotland will also host some games). The French cities hosting matches are
Bordeaux (
Stade Chaban-Delmas),
Lens (
Stade Félix Bollaert), Lyon (Stade Gerland),
Marseille (Stade Vélodrome),
Montpellier (
Stade de la Mosson), Nantes (Stade de la Beaujoire), Paris (Stade de France, Saint-Denis and Parc des Princes),
Saint-Étienne (
Stade Geoffroy-Guichard), and
Toulouse (Stadium de Toulouse). France were expelled from the tournament due to rumours of professionalism in the then-amateur sport in 1932, but rejoined in 1947. They first won the competition in 1954, sharing the championship with both England and Wales. France shared with Wales again the following season, and won it outright for the first time in 1959. They have, however, played in the quarter-final stages of every tournament, and have twice reached the final. In 1987 they were defeated by the All Blacks 29–9 at Eden Park, Auckland in the final. They were knocked out by England in the quarter-finals of the
1991 competition — their worst ever finish. In
1995 France finished third overall, defeating England 19–9 in the third/fourth place play-off after their defeat to South Africa in the semi-finals. After coming from behind to defeat the All Blacks in their
1999 semi-final, France lost to Australia 35–12 in the final. In
2003 they finished fourth, losing the third/fourth place game to the All Blacks. At the
2007 World Cup France lost out to England in the semi-finals losing 14-9 after finishing the break 5-6 ahead and in the lead with 5 minutes to go with Johny Wilkinson scoring a penalty and a drop goal to put England through. France lost to Argentina in the bronze final coming fourth in the 2007 world cup.
France are the third-highest World Cup points scorers of all time, with 968 points. They are also the third-highest try scorers, and the third-highest penalty scorers. France's
Thierry Lacroix was the top points scorer at the 1995 tournament with 112 points, and
Jean-Baptiste Lafond was the joint top try scorer in 1991 with six tries (equal with
David Campese).
Overall
France have won 354 of their 635 test matches, a win record of 55.66%. When the
World Rankings were introduced by the
International Rugby Board (IRB) in 2003 France were ranked fifth. During November 2003 France briefly occupied third place before falling to fourth by December that year. After falling to fifth during November 2004, France rose again to fourth by April 2005. During early 2006, France rose again, peaking at second in July that year. France were ranked number two in the world until falling to third in June 2007 after two successive defeats to the All Blacks. They then fell to fifth after losing to Argentina in the opening match of the 2007 World Cup.
Their test match record against all nations, up until
9 February 2008, is as follows:
Players
Current squad
The following is France's 38-man squad for the 2008 Six Nations Championship:
Notable players
Six former French national team players have been inducted into the
International Rugby Hall of Fame:
Serge Blanco,
André Boniface,
Jo Maso,
Jean Prat,
Jean-Pierre Rives and
Philippe Sella.
Jean Prat (1923–2005) earned 51 caps playing for France from 1945 to 1955, and captained France to their first wins over Wales and the All Blacks. He was also France's captain in 1954 when they won their first ever Five Nations (shared with Wales and England).
André Boniface also played in France's win over the All Blacks in 1954; it was only his second test for France. Boniface went on to play 48 tests for France before retiring in 1966.
Jo Maso first played for France between 1966 and 1973; mainly at . He played in France's first ever Five Nations Grand Slam in 1968, and that year toured New Zealand and Australia. He represented France in 25 tests and also played for the
Barbarians and the World XV that beat England in 1971. He is now the manager of the French national team.
Jean-Pierre Rives played 59 tests for France between 1975 and 1984; including 34 as captain. He played in Five Nations Grand Slams in 1977 and 1981, and captain France to their first ever win over the All Blacks in New Zealand. Rives is now an internationally renowned sculptor.
Serge Blanco played in 93 tests for France between 1980 and 1991. Playing at Blanco won Five Nations Grand Slams with France in 1981 and 1987, and in France's semi-final against Australia the
1987 World Cup scored the match winning try. He is now the president of France's national professional league,
Ligue Nationale de Rugby.
Centre Philippe Sella, who was also in the 1987 team, played 111 times for France between 1982 and 1995, setting an appearances record that stood until Fabien Pelous broke it, during the
2007 Rugby World Cup. In 1986, he achieved the rare feat of scoring a try in each of France's Five Nations matches.
Individual records
The record for points scored for France is 380 held by Christophe Lamaison. Lamaison also holds the record for conversions with 60. The record for tries scored for France is with 38 held by Serge Blanco. Although the style of
Fouroux's Gang was successful, it was criticised because it contrasted with the traditional open attacking style of French rugby. Fouroux was named as Desclaux's successor in 1981 at the age of just 33. He continued to promote a forward-oriented style of play, and France won six Five Nations titles — including two Grand Slams — while he was coach. After nearly ten years in the role he resigned in 1990 after a defeat to Romania.
Fouroux was succeeded by
Daniel Dubroca, who coached the team to the 1991 Rugby World Cup. Dubroca's tenure as coach didn't last long, however, as he resigned after violently confronting referee David Bishop following France's World Cup quarter-final against England. Dubroca was replaced by
Pierre Berbizier, who coached the team until after the 1995 Rugby World Cup. Berbizier's replacement,
Jean-Claude Skrela, coached France to Five Nations Grand Slams in 1997 and 1998 before they came last in the tournament in 1999. He officially resigned following France's loss to Australia in the 1999 Rugby World Cup final.
Bernard Laporte was appointed as Skrela's successor that November. Laporte guided France up to and including the
bronze final of the
2007 Rugby World Cup. He then stepped down to become the Secretary of State for Sport and was replaced by
Marc Lièvremont.
National Rugby Centre
The National Rugby Centre was opened by then French President
Jacques Chirac in November 2002. The facility cost
GP£46 million (approx.
€68 million, c.2007), and is located in the village of
Marcoussis, south of
Paris. Living quarters are also included, with 30 rooms which are each named after a championship winning French club. The living quarters also have a dedicated restaurant. France's under-19 team are permanently based at the NRC, and provide regular opposition for the French team during training.
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