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About France
France has been playing international rugby against the four nations of the British Isles occasionally in the first years of the 20th century and formally from 1910 in what was then the Five Nations Championship, currently the Six Nations Championship. During that time France have chalked up sixteen outright championship victories, sixteen times, eight times shared and nine grand slams. Eight former French players have been inducted into the World Rugby Hall of Fame. In the Rugby World Cup, France have come very close in that they have reached the final three times – in 1987, 1999 and 2011 – but each time they came off second best. They have made it to at least the quarter-finals at every tournament.
France hosted the 2007 tournament, and co-hosted the 1991 competition with Ireland and the United Kingdom. They also hosted some matches of the 1999 event, where the main host was Wales.
The national team really showed their improved mettle during the 1950s and 1960s, winning their first Five Nations title outright in 1959 and their first Grand Slam in 1968. Their usual playing kit is blue shirts with white shorts and red socks, hence they are usually referred to as les tricolores or les bleus. The French emblem is a golden rooster imposed upon a red shield and many home matches actually see live roosters in the stands.
Rugby was introduced to France by English residents in the early 1870s – it is known as rugby à 15 or jeu à 15. While football is much more popular nationally, rugby union is predominant in the southern half of the country, especially around Toulouse, the French Basque country and Catalonia. 65 million people are estimated to follow rugby in France which is more than the populations of other popular rugby nations such as New Zealand, Australia, Tonga, Samoa, Fiji, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales combined.
Many great players have turned out for “Les Bleus” over the years in the Five and then the Six Nations. Serge Blanco played at full-back, for France where he won 93 caps. It was said that he sums up all that is brilliant about French rugby, taking risks that no one else would. Thus he was able to turn the results of many matches.
Philippe Sella won 111 caps for France playing in the centre. Brilliant in both attack and defence, he enjoyed making a crucial tackle every much as he did the 30 test tries that he scored. He is particularly remembered for a 65 metre run to score against England in 1987 and becoming only the fourth player to score a try in every Championship match the previous year.
Jean-Pierre Rives played on the openside for France 59 times, 34 of them as captain when he emphasised their hard and committed form of play and was a cult figure in his country, now known as a visual artist.
Raphael Ibanez represents one of few international sportsmen to successfully return from retirement. Having played 72 times for his country (27 as captain) between 1996 and 2003, he was brought back due to another player’s injury and played a further 26 caps (15 as captain) before his ultimate retirement in 2008.
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