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France national rugby league team

France
Badge of France team
Nicknames Les Chanticleers
Les Tricolores
Governing body Fédération Française de Rugby à XIII
Region Europe
Head coach Aurélien Cologni
Captain Jason Baitieri
Most caps Puig Aubert (46)
Top try-scorer Raymond Contrastin (25)
Top point-scorer Puig Aubert (361)
RLIF ranking 5th
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
Appearances 14 (first time in 1954)
Best result Runners-up, 1954; 1968

The France national rugby league team represent France in international rugby league tournaments. 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 and is largely made up of players from Super League and the Elite One Championship.

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 Europe, and have since produced a number of top-class French players. Despite improved professionalism, France finished 10th in the 2008 World Cup in Australia. The team reached the quarter-finals of the 2013 World Cup where they were knocked out by England.


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