The 'France national rugby union team' is a national sporting side that 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 on fourteen occasions, shared in another eight titles and completing eight
grand slams.
They are currently the
third ranked team in the world—behind New Zealand ("The
All Blacks") and
Australia.
[ IRB World Rankings ] 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 (today, the Six Nations Championship) in 1910. France also competed in early
Summer Olympics when rugby was included—winning one gold and two silver medals. France came of age during the 1950s and 1960s, winning their first of many Five Nations titles. They won their first
Grand Slam in 1968, and won numerous titles in the following years. Since the inaugural World Cup in 1987, France have qualified for the knock-out stage of every tournament and reached the final twice. They were runners-up to the All Blacks in
1987 and to
Australia in
1999. France are the host nation for the current
2007 Rugby World Cup.
France traditionally play in white-trimmed blue shirts with blue shorts and red socks, and are commonly referred to as ''les tricolores'' or ''les bleus''. The French emblem is a red badge with a
rooster. Their alternative strip is mainly white. French internationals are played at a variety of venues throughout the country, but it is
Stade de France in the
Paris suburb of
Saint-Denis that is used for their games during the Six Nations.
History
Main articles: History of the French national rugby union team
Rugby was introduced to France in 1872 by British merchants and students.
[1] Although France were represented at the
1900 Summer Olympics (where they won gold),
[2] their first official test match did not take place till
New Year's Day,
1906 against the
New Zealand All Blacks in
Paris.
[3] 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.
[4] France also competed at the
1920 and
1924 Summer Olympics, and on both occasions lost to the
United States in the gold medal match.
France was ejected from the Five Nations in 1932 after being accused of professionalism in the French leagues at a time when rugby union was strictly amateur.
[5][6] 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.
[7] France were invited to rejoin the Five Nations in 1939 but did not compete until 1947 as international rugby was suspended during
World War II.
France came of age during the 1950s and 1960s: they won their first Five Nations championship and completed a successful tour of South Africa.
Their first championship was won in 1954 when they shared the title with England and Wales.
[8] France won their first outright Five Nations championship in 1959; they won with three wins and a draw (against England).
France became the first nation to tour South Africa winning the test series in 1958. The Springboks also visited Paris in 1961, the test was not completed due to onfield fighting amongst the players. France also toured
New Zealand and
Australia in 1961 losing both tests against the All Blacks but defeating Australia's
Wallabies. They won their first
Five Nations Grand Slam in 1968 by beating all four other competing teams, and won numerous titles in the following years.
In 1977 they won their second Grand Slam, fielding an unchanged side throughout the tournament.
They also defeated the All Blacks in
Toulouse that year, but lost the return match in Paris.
[9] On
Bastille Day,
1979 they defeated the All Blacks in New Zealand for the first time, at
Eden Park in
Auckland.
[10]
In 1981 the French clinched their third Grand Slam; at
Twickenham against the England.
They again completed a Grand Slam in 1987 on the eve of the first
Rugby World Cup hosted by Australia and New Zealand. In that tournament they came from behind numerous times to defeat the Wallabies in their semi-final, and faced the All Blacks in final at Eden Park, Auckland; France lost 29–9. They shared the Five Nations with Wales the next year, and also won it in 1989.
France hosted some of the tests during the
1991 World Cup, but made their exit from the after being knocked out by England at the Parc des Princes (Paris) in their quarter-final. One Five Nations championship was won in the early 1990s, in 1993. The following year France won a test series 2–0 in New Zealand.
[11] 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.
The Five Nations Championship was expanded in 2000 to include Italy. In the now Six Nations Championship France won a Grand Slam in 2002.
At the
2003 World Cup in Australia they qualified for the semi-finals where they were defeated by eventual champions England. In 2004 they won a second Six Nations Grand Slam which was followed by a Championship win in 2006 and successful defence in 2007.
Strip
The jersey of the French rugby team, with the traditional rooster symbol.
Until 1912, the
strip (uniform) of the French team was white with two rings, one red and one blue.
[12] 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.
[13] The rooster was probably chosen partly because it is 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.
[14] The badge was initially white and red, but was altered to a multicoloured, embroidered image after 1945, and has been golden since 1970.
[15]
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.
[16] 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.
[17]
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 have been developed for the 2007 World Cup, one 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.
[ Parc des Princes ][ Stade Colombes ] 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.
The largest stadium that France currently plays at is the
Stade de France, Paris where their home Six Nations matches are played. It has a capacity of 80,000.
[ Stade de France ] 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.[18]
World Cup venues
During the 1991 Rugby World Cup matches were played at Parc des Princes and Stadium Lille-Metropole).[19] In 1999, as in 1991, all Pool C (France's pool) matches were held around France along with one second round play-off and quarter final.[20]
For the 2007 Rugby 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).[ Destination France ] 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).
Record
Six Nations
France's only annual tournament is the Six Nations Championship, which is played against five other European nations: England, Ireland, Italy, Scotland, and Wales. France first contested the tournament in 1910 when the Home Nations became the Five Nations.[21] 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.
World Cup
Although France have competed at every Rugby World Cup since the inaugural tournament in 1987, they have never won the competition.[22] 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.[ 231st All Black Test : 871st All Black Game ] 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 defeating the All Blacks in their 1999 semi-final,[ 335th All Black Test : 1053rd All Black Game ] France lost to Australia 35–12 in the final. In 2003 they finished fourth, losing the third/fourth place game to the All Blacks.[ 381st All Black Test : 1101st All Black Game ]
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.[ Team Statistics (Displaying top 20 with ties) ] 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).[ Player Statistics (Displaying top 20 with ties) ]
Overall
France have won 347 of their 625 test matches, a win record of 55.70%.[23][24] When the World Rankings were introduced by the 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.[25]
Their test match record against all nations, up until 18 August 2007, is as follows:
Players
Current squad
The following table lists the players in France's 2007 World Cup squad:[27]
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.[28]
Jean Prat earned 51 caps playing for France from 1945 to 1955, and captained France to their first wins over Wales and the All Blacks.[29] He was also France's captain in 1954 when they won their first ever Five Nations (shared with Wales and England).[30] Also playing in France's win over the All Blacks in 1954 was André Boniface; it was only his second test for France. Boniface went on to play 48 tests for France before retiring in 1966.[31]
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,[32] 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.[33] 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.[34]
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 Rugby World Cup scored the match winning try.[35] Also in Frances 1987 team was centre Philippe Sella who played for France from 1982 to 1995. Sella also achieved the rare feat of scoring a try in each of France's 1986 Five Nations matches. He was capped a total of 111 times for France; a French record.Individual records
The record for points scored for France is 380 held by Christophe Lamaison.[38] Lamaison also holds the record for conversions with 60.
Training
Coaches
Historically the role of French rugby coach (or ''trainer'') has varied considerably. Due to the status of rugby union as an amateur sport for most of its history, the job of deciding tactics and running team trainings has often been that of the captain or senior players. Therefore a comprehensive list of national coaches is impossible.
Although coached by Jean Desclaux between 1973 and 1980, the French team's main influence during the late 1970 was captain Jacques Fouroux. Fouroux played and captained France to their 1977 Five Nations Grand Slam, during which France played a very forward-oriented style of rugby.[40] 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 succeeded by Daniel Dubroca, who coached the team to the 1991 Rugby World Cup.[43] Dubroca's tenure as coach did not last long, however, as he resigned after violently confronting referee David Bishop following France's World Cup quarter-final against England.
National Rugby Centre
France's National Rugby Centre located in
Marcoussis.
The National Rugby Centre was opened by then French President Jacques Chirac in November 2002.[48] The facility cost GP£46 million (approx. €68 million, c.2007), and is located in the village of Marcoussis, south of Paris.[49]
See also
★ Rugby union in France
★ Fédération Française de Rugby - the governing body of rugby union in France
★ French sevens team - national rugby (sevens) team
★ Giuseppe Garibaldi Trophy - trophy for tests between France and Italy
★ Dave Gallaher Trophy - trophy for tests between France and New Zealand
★ Trophée des Bicentenaires - trophy for tests between France and Australia
★ All Blacks versus France at rugby union
References
1. 100 years of French Test rugby: part one Chris Thau
2. Rugby at the 1924 Olympics
3. 8th All Black Test : 88th All Black Game
4. South Africa vs France > Games Played
5. 2/3/4/5/6 Nations Winners
6. Six Nations history
7. France > Most Wins in a row
8. Six Nations roll of honour
9. 1977 in France
10. 184th All Black Test : 753rd All Black Game
11. 1994 France in New Zealand
12. Le premier maillot de l'Equipe de France
13. 2 janvier 1911 : la naissance d’une Nation
14. Le coq dans le sport
15. Le coq sportif
16. Ecusson en forme de coq, devenu emblème national
17. Bird Flu Strikes at French Identity, Cuisine James Owen
18. An archive of international results can be found at www.irb.com accessed 2007-05-06
19. 1991 Rugby World Cup Results
20. 1999 Rugby World Cup Results
21. Six Nations roll of honour
22.
23. International Teams > France > Teams Played
24. Statistics exclude the match played against New Zealand Māori as this is not a full international side.
25. Ranking archives can be found at the IRB website; www.irb.com
26. Overall record excludes France's match against the New Zealand Māori
27. Laporte reveals his RWC hand
28. Joining the legends an added bonus for Wood Brendan Gallagher
29. Jean Prat
30. Heroes of French rugby
31. André Boniface
32. Leaping for joy at Grand Slam glory
33. Jo Maso
34. Jean-Pierre Rives
35. Serge Blanco
36. Philippe Sella - Simply the best
37. Sella's record of 111 test caps may be overtaken by Fabien Pelous who has 110 caps as of June 2007.
38. Records
39. Records
40. Dine (2001), pg 155.
41. Jacques Fouroux
42. Dine (2001), pg 160.
43. Brine (2001), pg 172–173.
44. French, in Anglo-Saxon Game, Can No Longer Rest on Latin Laurels Tara Patel
45. Berbizier launches Laporte attack
46. Sport: Rugby Union Skrela steps down as French coach
47. Laporte gets France job
48. All Blacks are not dangerous, says French coach Jean-Paul Couret
49. Bord Bia launch lamb promotion Ray Ryan
50. French players enjoy new home Jean-Paul Couret
Bibliography
★ French Rugby Football - Cultural History, , Philip, Dine, Berg, ,
External links
★ Official website of the Fédération Française de Rugby
★ News on Planet-Rugby.com
★ France on IRB.com
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