France national rugby league team

The France national rugby league team represent France in international rugby league matches. They are referred to as les Chanticleers or less commonly as les Tricolores. The team is run under the auspices of the Fédération Française de Rugby à XIII.

This article is about the men's team. For the women's team, see France women's national rugby league team.
France
Team information
NicknamesLes Chanticleers
Les Tricolores
Governing bodyFédération Française de Rugby à XIII
RegionEurope
Head coachAurélien Cologni
CaptainThéo Fages
Most capsPuig Aubert (46)
Top try-scorerRaymond Contrastin (25)
Top point-scorerPuig Aubert (361)
RLIF ranking8th
Uniforms
First colours
Team results
First international
 England 32–21 France 
(Paris, France; 15 April 1934)
Biggest win
 Serbia 0–120 France 
(Beirut, Lebanon; 22 October 2003)
Biggest defeat
 England 84–4 France 
(Leigh, England; 24 October 2015)
World Cup
Appearances15 (first time in 1954)
Best resultRunners-up, 1954; 1968

The French rugby league team first played in 1934 on a tour of England. They have taken part in all World Cups, twelve in total, with the first being held in 1954 in France. They have never won the title but finished runners-up in both 1954 and 1968. These are often considered the glory years of French rugby league as from the 1950s to the 1970s the team were strong and regularly beat Australia, New Zealand and Great Britain. Since those days, les Chanticleers have not done as well, not managing to win a single match in the 1995 World Cup, but doing slightly better in the 2000 World Cup with wins over Tonga and South Africa before losing to eventual finalists, New Zealand.

In 2006, the Perpignan based team Catalans Dragons entered Super League, and have since produced a number of top-class French players. The team reached the quarter-finals of the 2013 World Cup where they were knocked out by England.[1] At the 2017 World Cup, the team were eliminated at the group stage and thus failed to qualify for the quarter finals.

Currently, France are ranked eighth in the world. In Europe alone they are ranked second, ahead of Ireland, Scotland, Wales and Lebanon, but behind their main rival, England.

History

1930s
The 1934 squad, captained by Jean Gallia (front row, fourth from left).

On New Year's Eve 1933, England and Australia played in Paris – the first game of rugby league football in France. The match was one-sided, with Australia winning 63-13 in front of a crowd of about 5,000, but the seed was sown. French rugby union players, disgruntled that France had been suspended from the Five Nations Championship, formed the "Ligue Francaise de Rugby à XIII" on 6 April 1934. Jean Galia, a former rugby union international and champion boxer, led France on a six-match tour of England in 1934 and they recorded their first win in Kingston upon Hull. The national team's first game was in Paris on 15 April 1934, losing 21-32 to England in front of a crowd of 20,000. By 1939, the French League had 225 clubs and the national side won the 1938–39 European Rugby League Championship where they became the first French team in any sport to beat England at home.[2]

1940s

The game of rugby league suffered in France during the Second World War, as administrators had rugby league banned. Some players and officials of the sport were punished (not reinstated in the French rugby union), whilst the total assets of the rugby league and its clubs were handed over to the union. After the war the French game was re-established and the French became one of rugby league's major powers, competing in the Rugby League World Cup and in major international series against Great Britain, Australia and New Zealand, despite continuing persecution (including remaining unable to call itself rugby until 1989, being called "jeu à XIII" (the game [played] in 13), which was an expression coined by Jean Gallia[3]). In 1949, they became the first French sporting team to win at Wembley Stadium.

"The match between France and Great Britain lasted excessively for five minutes" Miroir print" n°130 29 November 1948

1950s
1951 team

In 1951 France embarked on their first ever tour of Australasia, coached by Robert Samatan and led by the legendary chain-smoking fullback, Puig Aubert. Their flamboyant style of unorthodox attacking rugby attracted huge crowds. When the two nations met for the first Test, the match became the first "all ticket" international to be staged at the Sydney Cricket Ground, and attracted a crowd of over 60,000. On Saturday 30 June 1951, Australia secured a hard-fought second Test victory over France in Brisbane by 23 points to 11. The third Test took place at Sydney Cricket Ground three weeks later before a crowd of 67,009. Late tries from Duncan Hall and Brian Davies could not prevent the Kangaroos from suffering an embarrassing 35-14 defeat. France played 28 matches during the three-month tour, winning 21 matches, drawing twice and losing just five times.

In November 1951, France met "Other Nationalities" in an International Championship match at the Boulevard, Hull which became known as the "Battle of the Boulevard". Other Nationalities won 17-14 but the match centred on the behaviour of Edouard Ponsinet, who was involved in most of the violence that happened at the game. The Other Nationalities were down to eleven players at one stage, with Arthur Clues being the most serious casualty, hospitalised with head injuries. Eventually Ponsinet was sent off, ten minutes from time after breaking the nose of Jeff Burke.[4] Despite this defeat France went on to retain the title with home victories over England and Wales.

In the 1954 World Cup, which was the first of either rugby code and was instigated by France, Les Tricolores defeated both Australia and New Zealand, and drew with Great Britain to reach the final. This was the closest they went to getting their hands on the World Cup, going down narrowly, 16-12, to Great Britain in the final in Parc des Princes. France donated the original World Cup trophy, but they have never won it.

France repeated the success of their 1951 tour in 1955, with even bigger attendances greeting the team. Puig Aubert had broken his arm just prior to the touring party leaving and did not tour. Despite this, France played splendidly to win the second test in Brisbane (in a spectacular game 29-28 before 45,000 fans at the Brisbane Cricket Ground) and the third test at the SCG. The 1951 and 1955 French sides that toured Australia are still regarded as two of the strongest sides ever to tour that country.

In the 1957 World Cup, held in Australia, the winner was decided by finishing top of the table with no final being played. France finished last, winning one match against New Zealand. History was made when the returning French and British squads visited South Africa and played a series of exhibition matches in Benoni, Durban and East London, all of which were won by the British.

1960s

In the 1960 Rugby League World Cup France failed to win a match, and finished last for the second consecutive time.

On Sunday 8 December 1963, France defeated the Australians in the first Test of a three Test series during the Kangaroo tour of Europe. The match was held in Bordeaux.

France regained strength as the decade went on - defeating Australia quite comprehensively in the 1967-1968 series played in France, winning two games and drawing one.

The French reached the final of the 1968 Rugby League World Cup, the last time they have achieved that feat. They beat both Great Britain and New Zealand to qualify, but lost to Australia in Sydney, and so finished runners-up again.

1970s
The French captain, Georges Ailleres, carried on his teammates' shoulders after a win against Great Britain in 1970.

France managed one victory in the 1970 Rugby League World Cup, a narrow win over Australia, who went on to win the Cup in the final. In 1972 France hosted the sixth World Cup and again only got the one win, in the opening match against New Zealand. The trend of underperforming in the World Cup continued for the French in the expanded 1975 tournament in which they got a lone win over Wales and a draw against New Zealand. Two years later in the 1977 World Cup they did not win a single match. But then on the 1978 Kangaroo tour, France beat Australia 13-10 and 11-10. This was Australia's last defeat in an international series or competition until the 2005 Tri-Nations.

1980s

Rugby league in France went through a riotous period at the beginning of the 1980s. The turbulent period was steadied by the influence of French Rugby League guru Jean-François Bouchet, however poor results followed.[5] From 1985 to 1987 the team were beaten by New Zealand in Perpignan, drew with Great Britain in Avignon and were thrashed 52-0 in Carcassonne by Australia. Away from home they suffered a large defeat against Great Britain in Leeds. The team reached a low point when they were forced to forfeit away World Cup games against Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea in the 1985-88 edition because of lack of funds. Their only World Cup win was against Papua New Guinea in front of 3,500 people in Carcassonne.

1990s

In 1990, a Great Britain team including Shaun Edwards, Garry Schofield, Martin Offiah and Denis Betts were embarrassed by a 25-18 loss, France's first victory on English soil for 23 years and their last win over Great Britain/England. The team then met Papua New Guinea on Sunday 30 June 1991 in Rabaul, where they were beaten 28-24. On Sunday 7 July 1991, the two sides met again for a World Cup encounter at Danny Leahy Oval, Goroka. The heat and humidity caused France all kinds of problems, but Les Tricolores squeezed home 20-18.

On Sunday 27 October 1991, the first ever Test match involving the Soviet Union took place at the Stade Georges Lyvet, Villeurbanne, near Lyon, France. The Bears were beaten 26-6 by France. The Papua New Guinea national team wound up their 1991 tour of Europe with a World Cup rated Test match against France, which was played on Sunday 24 November at the Stade Albert Domec, Carcassonne. France defeated their visitors 28-14. In the 1995 World Cup France had to play the Samoans three days after taking a physical pounding from the Welsh in Cardiff.

John Kear was briefly in charge of Les Tricolores in 1997.

France took on Italy at the Parc des Sports, Avignon in November 1999. France needed a draw to win the Mediterranean Cup. The Italians, registered a memorable 14-10 victory, which handed the cup to the Lebanon.

2000s

France traveled to Pretoria for a match against South Africa on Saturday 3 November 2001. The French were too good for a young and inexperienced South African side. They scored four tries in each half, and won 44-6 after leading 24-0 at half-time.

In 2002, France lost to Lebanon 36–6 in front of 9,713 spectators at Tripoli in the Mediterranean Cup final.[6]

France playing against Australia in Toulouse.

In 2004 the French returned to form with a narrow 20-24 loss to New Zealand and a losing but creditable performance against Australia. In 2005, Les Tricolores played Australia again in Perpignan, suffering a 12-44 defeat.[7] Unlike their last match against Australia, this game was played under normal rules and is considered a regular test match. This was their best performance in an official test match against Australia since 1990.

The French team lining up before their match against New Zealand in the 2009 Four Nations tournament.

Papua New Guinea toured France in the winter of 2007, with France winning both matches. After the tour, a match in Paris was scheduled against New Zealand, who were on their way home from a 3-0 test series defeat by Great Britain. A last minute try secured a 22-14 New Zealand win in front of a decent crowd despite Paris rail strikes.[8] France participated in the 2008 World Cup after being granted automatic qualification. They were drawn in Group B with Scotland and Fiji. Winning only one game and losing two, France finished the tournament in last place.

France participated in the first 2009 Four Nations tournament against England, New Zealand and Australia. The following year, the tournament was held in Australia and New Zealand, with France's place being taken by a Pacific qualifier.

2010s

With the Four Nations returning to Europe in 2011, France needed to qualify by winning the 2010 European Cup, but failed to do so, with Wales qualifying instead. In 2011 the English team, rather than playing their annual test against France, instead arranged the inaugural 2011 International Origin match.

France participated in the 2013 Rugby League World Cup and hosted some games. They reached the quarter-finals where they were knocked out by England.

In 2014, France played in the 2014 European Cup. They came second in the tournament on points difference, by only 3 points, finishing behind Scotland therefore failing to qualify for the 2016 Four Nations.

In May 2015, France were set to take on South Africa However, the Africans had to withdraw due to the concerns of national contingencies. Therefore, France announced they'd play Serbia in Saint-Esteve on the 22 May. The French, who were labelled as France 'A' due to not being a full-strength side, went on to hammer the Serbs by 68 points to 8.

In October 2015, France played in the 2015 European Cup. During the tournament in November, after already confirming before the tournament's details were announced, France took on England in Leigh. The match was a warm-up game for England before their end-of-year test-series against New Zealand. The French were hammered by a record 80-point margin.[9]

In August 2016 Richard Agar, who began coaching France at the 2013 World Cup, left the national team. It is believed he left because new Fédération Française de Rugby à XIII president Marc Palanques wants a Frenchman to coach the national team.[10] Aurelien Cologni, who had a temporary spell from 2011-2012, became the new coach.

At the 2017 Rugby League World Cup, France were placed in a strong group, pitted against the likes of England, Lebanon and defending champions Australia. France got off to the worst possible start, suffering a shock loss to Lebanon 29-18 in Canberra. The following two games did not get any better for the French as they were thumped 52-6 by Australia and then suffered another big defeat to their old foes England 36-6 in Perth.[11][12][13] They thus failed to move beyond the group stage and were eliminated from the World Cup.

2020s

As the winner of the 2018 Rugby League European Championship, France Qualified for the 2021 Rugby League World Cup, their 16th appearance in the competition.

Identity

Jersey
Primary
1931-1940
1950-1969
1970-1975
1970s alternate home
1977-1981
1977-1981 Away
1982-1988
1987 (vs Australia, vs Great Britain)
1989 (vs Great Britain)
1991 (vs Great Britain)
1989
1991 (vs Great Britain)
1991 (vs New Zealand)
1994 Oceania Tour
1990 (vs Australia), 1995 World Cup
2000 World Cup
2008 World Cup
2013 World Cup Home
2013 World Cup Away
2014
2016
2017 World Cup

Traditionally, France wears a blue jersey usually complemented by a red and white chevron on the chest, white shorts and red socks, with the team being nicknamed Les Tricolores. The uniforms feature the Gallic rooster embroidered on the chest, much like their union counterpart. The use of the rooster as badge influenced Eastern Suburbs RLFC, which had uniforms similar to France, to use the rooster as symbol since 1967, being known as Sydney Roosters. Sometimes, France also wears a white jersey in case a colour clash arises.

Kit suppliers and sponsors
Period Manufacturers Sponsors
1970-1977 Le Coq Sportif none
1977-1981 Adidas
1982-1988 O'Neills
1989-1990 Halbro Jiffi Condoms[14]
1990-1991 Valpro none
1991-1992 MSport Cassegrain
1993-1994 Power League Peugeot
1995-1996 Coverland
1997-1999 Puma none
2000-2003 Enterasys Networks
2004 Sport+
2005-2006 Canterbury
2007-2008 none
2009-2010 Rugby Approved Mutuelles du Rempart
2011-2013 Puma
2014-2016 Erreà
2016 Groupe Nicollin
2017 Classic Bet
2018-present Mister Marcel

Current squad

Squad selected for the 2021 Rugby League World Cup qualifiers;[15]

Pos. Player Age Caps Points Club
Fullback Tony Gigot (1990-12-27) 27 December 1990 12 56 Toronto Wolfpack
Fullback Hakim Miloudi (1993-06-26) 26 June 1993 2 4 Toronto Wolfpack
Fullback Tony Maurel (1993-04-21) 21 April 1993 2 8 Toulouse Olympique
Fullback Morgan Escare (1991-10-18) 18 October 1991 11 36 Wigan Warriors
Wing Illias Bergal (1996-04-06) 6 April 1996 3 0 Toulouse Olympique
Wing Paul Marcon (1995-07-10) 10 July 1995 4 12 Toulouse Olympique
Wing Gavin Marguerite (1995-08-12) 12 August 1995 0 0 Catalans Dragons
Centre Arthur Romano (1997-08-17) 17 August 1997 0 0 Catalans Dragons
Centre Bastien Ader (1991-06-06) 6 June 1991 5 16 Toulouse Olympique
Stand-off Anthony Marion (1994-01-12) 12 January 1994 1 0 Toulouse Olympique
Stand-off Theo Fages (1994-08-23) 23 August 1994 12 12 St. Helens
Scrum-half William Barthau (1990-01-30) 30 January 1990 12 3 Toulouse Olympique
Scrum-half Lucas Albert (1998-07-04) 4 July 1998 3 4 Catalans Dragons
Scrum-half Stanislas Robin (1990-10-21) 21 October 1990 5 8 Toulouse Olympique
Prop Lambert Belmas (1997-08-11) 11 August 1997 2 0 Catalans Dragons
Prop Bastien Canet (1993-06-26) 26 June 1993 1 0 AS Carcassonne
Prop Maxime Puech (1994-03-16) 16 March 1994 0 0 Toulouse Olympique
Prop Roman Navarrete (1994-06-30) 30 June 1994 3 4 Wakefield Trinity
Hooker Alrix Da Costa (1997-10-02) 2 October 1997 3 8 Catalans Dragons
Hooker Charles Bouzinac (1994-01-10) 10 January 1994 1 1 Lézignan Sangliers
Second-row Mickael Goudemand (1996-04-09) 9 April 1996 2 0 Catalans Dragons
Second-row Benjamin Jullien (1995-04-01) 1 April 1995 6 0 Catalans Dragons
Second-row Rhys Curran (1989-07-07) 7 July 1989 3 4 London Broncos
Loose forward Jason Baitieri (1989-07-02) 2 July 1989 19 8 Catalans Dragons

Competitive history

Overall
Main article: List of France national rugby league team results

Below are the France international XIII results up until 2 May 2020.[16]

Opponent Played Won Drawn Lost % Won For Aga Diff
 Australia621424522.58%5471476–929
British Empire XIII210150%2325–2
 Canada1100100%7232+40
Dominion XIII1101100%11110
 England48723914.58%4921256–764
England Knights710614.29%109208–99
 Fiji2002%1862–44
 Georgia1100100%600+60
 Great Britain751945225.33%7961762–966
 Ireland971177.78%295172+123
 Italy1001%1014–4
 Jamaica1100100%3412+22
 Lebanon410325%80115–35
 Morocco2200100%1528+144
 New Zealand561653528.57%5921065–473
Other Nationalities620433.33%7799–22
 Papua New Guinea1491464.29%281249+32
 Russia8800100%37154+317
 Samoa410325%54126–72
 Scotland1190281.82%326198+128
 Serbia2200100%1888+180
 South Africa2200100%8623+63
 Tonga110150%3856–18
 United States2101100%4922+27
 Wales432501858.14%713643+70
Total3631291521935.54%53827678–2296

World Cup
World Cup Record
Year Round Position Pld Win Draw Loss
1954Second place2/44211
1957Fourth place4/43120
1960Fourth place4/43030
1968Second place2/44220
1970Third place3/43120
1972Third place3/43120
1975Fifth place5/58161
1977Fourth place4/43030
1985–88Fifth place5/55131
1989–92Fourth place4/58260
1995Group stage9/102020
2000Quarter-finals5/164220
2008Group stage10/102110
2013Quarter-finals6/144130
2017Group stage12/143030
2021000
Total0 Titles15/155915413

Four Nations
Four Nations Record
Year Round Position Pld Win Draw Loss
2009Fourth place4/43030
2010Not Invited
2011Did not qualify
2014Not Invited
2016Did not qualify
Total0 Titles1/53030

European Championship
European Championship Record
Year Round Position Pld Win Draw Loss
1935Second place2/32110
1935-36Third place3/32002
1936-37Third place3/32002
1938Third place3/32002
1938-39Champions1/32200
1945-46Second place2/32110
1946-47Third place2/34103
1947-48Second place2/34202
1948-49Champions2/34301
1949-50Fourth place4/43102
1950-51Champions1/43201
1951-52Champions1/43201
1952-53Fourth place4/43003
1953-54Third place3/43102
1955-56Second place2/32101
1969-70Second place2/34210
1975Third place3/32002
1977Champions1/32200
1978Third place3/32002
1979Second place2/32101
1980Second place2/32101
1981Champions1/32200
1935Third place3/32002
1996Third place3/32002
2003Second place2/63120
2004Group Stage3/62110
2005Champions1/63300
2009Not Invited
2010Second place2/43210
2012Not Invited
2014Second place2/43210
2015Second place2/43210
2018Champions1/43300
Total8 Titles7/9201460

Honours

Major:
World Cup:
Runners-up (2): 1954, 1968

Regional:
European Championship:
Winners (8): 1938-39, 1948-49, 1950-51, 1951-52, 1977, 1981, 2005, 2011, 2018
Runners-up (11): 1935, 1945-46, 1947-48, 1955-56, 1969-70, 1979, 1980, 2003, 2010, 2014, 2015

Rankings
Official Men's Rankings as of November 2019
RankChange*TeamPts%
1 2 New Zealand
2 1 Australia
3 1 England
4  Tonga
5  Fiji
6 4 Papua New Guinea
7  Samoa
8 2 France
9 1 Scotland
10 1 Lebanon
11 5 Greece
12  Ireland
13 1 Italy
14 3 Wales
15 4 Serbia
16 1 Malta
17 1 Norway
18 3 United States
19 4 Poland
20 7 Jamaica
21 1 Hungary
22 3 Czech Republic
23 5 Cook Islands
24 7 Turkey
25 1 Netherlands
26 4 Spain
27 6 Canada
28  Nigeria
29 2 Solomon Islands
30 10 Sweden
31 4 Germany
32 1 Chile
33  Ghana
34 16 Morocco
35 3 Vanuatu
36  South Africa
37 8 Russia
38  Cameroon
39 2 Ukraine
40 1 Colombia
41 4 Brazil
42  Belgium
43 4 Denmark
44 4 Bulgaria
45 4 Latvia
*Change from July 2019

National coaches
Manager France career P W D L Win %
Jean Galia 1937-1949
Robert Samatan 1951-1954
René Duffort
Jean Duhau		 1954-1960 7 2 1 4 028.6
Jep Lacoste 1968
Antoine Jimenez 1975 1 0 0 1 000.0
Yves Bégou 1977
Roger Garrigue 1978-1981
Michel Maïque 1982-1983
Louis Bonnery 1984
Tas Baitieri 1984-1987 2 0 1 1 000.0
Jacques Jorda 1989-1991
Jean-Christophe Vergeynst 1991-1994
Ivan Grésèque 1994-1996 14 1 3 10 007.1
John Kear 1997-1998 5 4 1 0 080.0
Patrick Pedrazzani 1998-1999 5 2 0 3 040.0
Gilles Dumas 1999-2004 24 10 0 14 041.7
Mick Aldous 2004-2005 7 3 0 4 042.9
John Monie 2005-2009 7 1 0 6 014.3
Bobbie Goulding 2009-2011 11 4 0 7 036.4
Aurelien Cologni 2011-2012 4 2 0 2 050.0
Richard Agar 2013-2015 9 4 0 5 044.4
Aurelien Cologni 2016-present

Notable players
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See also

References
  1. "England 34-6 France". Rugby League World Cup 2013. RLIF. Retrieved 16 August 2015.
  2. BBC NEWS | Programmes | From Our Own Correspondent | French rugby league fights for rights
  3. Rylance, Mike (2005). "Pourquoi Vichy a-t-il interdit le rugby à XIII ?". Arkheia (14-15-16).
  4. "France defeated in 'Battle of the Boulevard'". totalrl.com. 31 December 2007. Retrieved 1 January 2008.
  5. Heads, Ian (24 May 1981). "French tour could be a riot!". The Sun-Herald. Australia. p. 86. Retrieved 6 February 2011.
  6. Mascord, Steve (4 November 2002). "El Magic helps spread word to the Middle East". The Sydney Morning Herald. Australia: Fairfax. Retrieved 20 February 2011.
  7. "Kangaroos trounce France 44-12". Sydney Morning Herald. 2005-11-13. Retrieved 16 August 2015.
  8. Andruczyk, Daniel. "France vs. New Zealand Rugby League Test Match 2007". YouTube. Retrieved 16 August 2015.
  9. "England demolish France 84-4 in record win". Skysports.com. Retrieved 24 October 2015.
  10. "Agar departs France job". LOVERUGBYLEAGUE. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
  11. https://www.theguardian.com/sport/live/2017/nov/03/australia-v-france-rugby-league-world-cup-2017-live
  12. "Rugby League World Cup: England 36-6 France". BBC Sport. 2017-11-12.
  13. "Moses steps up to create Lebanese history". 2017-10-29.
  14. https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EX-vmGbVcAAgoDO.jpg
  15. "France confirm train-on squad for RLWC qualifiers". Rugby League Planet. 17 October 2018.
  16. "France Head to Head". rugbyleagueproject. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
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