Women's Rugby World Cup: France XV enters the competition in England with "title ambitions"

At the Rugby World Cup, the French women's team seems to have adopted two habits. The first is rather good: reaching the semi-finals, as has been the case in eight of the tournament's nine editions. The second, however, is much less glorious: Les Bleues have systematically lost at this stage. As they enter the 2025 World Cup, Saturday, August 23, against Italy in Exeter, England – kick-off at 9:15 p.m. (Paris time) – they are determined to reverse this trend.

"We're doing everything we can to finish the competition," said former captain Gaëlle Mignot, who became co-head coach alongside David Ortiz at the end of 2022. Her words echo those of most of her predecessors at the helm of the group. France is one of the best nations on the planet (currently ^4th in the World Rugby rankings) and has been a credible contender for the title for years.

During the 2022 edition, in New Zealand (postponed by a year due to the Covid-19 pandemic), the Blues lost at the gates of the final , by a single point (24-25), against the locals and future champions. And if they managed to bounce back to obtain third place , their adventure on the other side of the world was nonetheless painful. "There was a split between the players and Thomas Darracq, the coach. He ended up taking a step back as the competition progressed," recalls Marjorie Mayans, who was then playing in her last international tournament.

You have 74.66% of this article left to read. The rest is reserved for subscribers.