France women's national rugby union team


The France women's national rugby union team first played in 1982.

History

Source: "Des Filles en Ovalie", Éditions Atlantica, 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 – was formed. Despite initial opposition to the game from both the government and the FFR 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.

Results summary

Note: Although the FFR list all of the following as full internationals or "test matches" in their publications, they do not award caps for all of the games. In particular, no caps have been officially awarded for appearances before 1989, 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.
'
Correct as of 23 February 2020
OpponentFirst playedGames playedWonDrawnLostSuccess rate
1998540180.00
19881100100.00
19961580753.33
1991471403327.79
19971100100.00
1986430175.00
199428241385.71
198523191382.61
19883300100.00
19983300100.00
198212110191.67
1996720528.57
199826230588.46
2009321066.67
198919140573.68
19884400100.00
199613101276.92
199426220484.62
Total23716347068.78'''

Previous squads

Squad for the [2017 Women's [Rugby World Cup]]

See Women's international rugby for information about the status of international games and match numbering

Full internationals

1980s

1990s

2000s

2010s

Other internationals