The France women's national rugby union team represents France in women's international rugby union. The France team, and the Netherlands, played the first-ever women's rugby union test match on 13 June 1982. They compete annually in the Women's Six Nations Championship and have placed third in seven of nine Rugby World Cups.
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.
Players Current squad France announced their 32 player squad on 2 August for the 2025 Women's Rugby World Cup.
Note: The age and number of caps listed for each player is as of 22 August 2025, the first day of the tournament.
World Cup squads
Notable players Nathalie Amiel was inducted into the IRB Hall of Fame on 17 November 2014. 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. She played at three Women's Rugby World Cups in 1991, 1994 and 2002.
Award winners World Rugby Awards The following France players have been recognised at the World Rugby Awards since 2001:
+ World Rugby Women's 15s Player of the Year Year Nominees Winners 2006 — 2014 Safi N'Diaye 2015 Gaëlle Mignot 2016 Gaëlle Mignot (2) 2018 Jessy Trémoulière Jessy Trémoulière 2019 Pauline Bourdon — 2021 Caroline Boujard Laure Sansus 2022 Laure Sansus (2) 2023 Gabrielle Vernier 2024 Pauline Bourdon (2)
+ World Rugby Women's 15s Dream Team of the Year Year Forwards Backs Total Players Players 2021 1. Annaëlle Deshayes 9. Laure Sansus 6 2. Agathe Sochat 10. Caroline Drouin 4. Safi N'Diaye 14. Caroline Boujard 2022 5. Madoussou Fall 9. Laure Sansus (2) 2 2023 — 9. Pauline Bourdon 2 12. Gabrielle Vernier 2024 9. Pauline Bourdon (2) 1 2025 11. Joanna Grisez 1
+ World Rugby Women's 15s Try of the Year 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:
+ Six Nations Player of the Championship Year Nominee Winner 2021 Caroline Boujard — 2022 Madoussou Fall Laure Sansus Laure Sansus 2023 Gabrielle Vernier Gabrielle Vernier 2024 Romane Ménager — 2025 Manaé Feleu 2026 Pauline Bourdon
+ Six Nations Try of the Championship Year Nominee Match Winner 2024 Annaëlle Deshayes vs. Italy — 2025 Joanna Grisez vs. England Joanna Grisez 2026 Pauline Bourdon vs. England —
+ Six Nations Team of the Championship Year Forwards Backs Total Players Players 2022 4. Madoussou Fall 9. Laure Sansus 2 2023 — 9. Pauline Bourdon 3 12. Gabrielle Vernier 13. Marine Ménager 2024 4. Manaé Feleu — 2 8. Romane Ménager 2025 5. Manaé Feleu (2) 9. Pauline Bourdon (2) 4 8. Teani Feleu 15. Morgane Bourgeois 2026 1. Ambre Mwayembe 9. Pauline Bourdon (3) 4 4. Madoussou Fall (2) 14. Anaïs Grando
Record
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
(Full internationals only)Correct as of 23 August 2025 + France internationals since 1982 Opponent First played Games played Won Drawn Lost Win rate (%) 1998 6 4 0 2 % 1988 1 1 0 0 100% 1996 18 9 0 9 % 1991 58 14 0 44 % 2022 1 1 0 0 100% 1997 1 1 0 0 100% 1986 4 3 0 1 75% 1994 33 29 1 3 % 1985 30 25 1 4 % 1991 3 3 0 0 100% 1998 3 3 0 0 100% 1982 12 11 0 1 91.66% 1996 12 5 0 7 % 1998 31 25 1 5 % 2009 5 4 1 0 80% 1989 19 14 0 5 73.68% 1991 4 4 0 0 100% 1996 14 11 1 2 % 1994 31 27 0 4 % Total 1982 286 194 5 87 %
World Cup
See also Rugby union in France France national rugby union team (men's team)
References
External links Official website of the Fédération Française de Rugby News on Planet-Rugby.com France on IRB.com