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Nicknames | Les Chanticleers Les Tricolores |
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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) |
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Biggest win | |||||||
Serbia 0–120 France (Beirut, Lebanon; 22 October 2003) |
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Biggest defeat | |||||||
England 84–4 France (Leigh, England; 24 October 2015) |
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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.