France national under-20 rugby union team

The France national under-20 rugby union team (French: Équipe de France de rugby à XV des moins de 20 ans), also known as France under-20s or France U20(s), is the national under-20 rugby union team of France, under the control of the French Rugby Federation. Competing in the annual Six Nations Under 20s Championship, it is considered to be the feeder team for the France national team.

France
UnionFrench Rugby Federation
Nickname(s)Les Bleuets (The Little Blues)
Coach(es)Sébastien Calvet
Captain(s)Hugo Reus
Most capsKilian Geraci (18)
Jordan Joseph (18)
Top scorerLouis Carbonel (169)
Most triesJordan Joseph (12)
First international
France France 12–6 Scotland Scotland
(1 February 2008)
Largest win
France France 75–12 Japan Japan
(24 June 2023)
Largest defeat
New Zealand New Zealand 45–7 France France
(15 June 2015)
World Cup
Appearances13 (first in 2008)
Best resultGold Champions (3): 2018, 2019 and 2023

Replacing the two former age grade teams Under 19s and Under 21s, their first tournament was the 2008 Six Nations U20 Championship, where they finished at the third place. Winning the competition in 2009, 2014 – year in which they win the Grand Slam – and 2018,[1] they also have participated in the inaugural IRB Junior World Championship (later renamed the World Rugby U20 Championship) and all subsequent editions, winning it on three occasions, three times in a row, in 2018, 2019 and 2023.[2]

Nicknamed "Les Bleuets" (French for "The Little Blues"; diminutive from "bleu": blue), they are used to play in medium-sized stadiums all around France. Sébastien Calvet is the current head coach of the team, after having been appointed in 2022.

Coaching history

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Current staff

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The following members were part of the France U20 coaching staff for the 2022–23 season. Sébastien Calvet replaced Jean-Marc Béderède as head coach in July 2022.[3]

Position Name
Head coach   Sébastien Calvet
Backs and attack coach   Benoît Baby
Defence coach   Philippe Boher
Forwards and set piece coach   Rémi Vaquin (incumbent)
  Samuel Cherouk (back-up)

Previous head coaches

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Picture Head coach Tenure Honours
    Philippe Sella 2008–2011   2009 U20 Six Nations Championship
  2011 U20 Six Nations Championship
  2008 U20 Six Nations Championship
    Fabien Pelous 2011–2015   2014 U20 Six Nations Championship – Grand Slam
  2012 U20 Six Nations Championship
  2015 U20 Six Nations Championship
    Thomas Lièvremont 2015–2017   2016 U20 Six Nations Championship
  2017 U20 Six Nations Championship
  Sébastien Piqueronies 2017–2019   2018 World Rugby U20 Championship
  2019 World Rugby U20 Championship
  2018 U20 Six Nations Championship
  2019 U20 Six Nations Championship
  Philippe Boher 2019–2021   2021 U20 Six Nations Championship
  Jean-Marc Béderède 2021–2022   2022 U20 Six Nations Championship
  Sébastien Calvet 2022–   2023 World Rugby U20 Championship
  2023 U20 Six Nations Championship

Players

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Current squad

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On 23 June 2024, Calvet named a 30-player squad for the 2024 World Rugby U20 Championship in South Africa.[4]

1 On 5 July, Zinédine Aouad withdrew from the squad due to injury and was replaced by Charly Gambini.[5]

Head coach:   Sébastien Calvet

  • Caps updated: 15 March 2024
Player Position Date of birth (age) Caps Club/province
Thomas Lacombre Hooker (2004-07-14) 14 July 2004 (age 20) 9   Toulouse
Mathys Lotrian Hooker (2004-02-18) 18 February 2004 (age 20) 1   Perpignan
Barnabé Massa Hooker (2004-05-13) 13 May 2004 (age 20) 6   Grenoble
Zinédine Aouad1 Prop (2005-05-03) 3 May 2005 (age 19) 5   Bordeaux Bègles
Lorencio Boyer Gallardo Prop (2005-09-23) 23 September 2005 (age 19) 0   Perpignan
Thomas Duchêne Prop (2004-08-25) 25 August 2004 (age 20) 9   Clermont
Samuel Jean-Christophe Prop (2006-03-09) 9 March 2006 (age 18) 0   Toulon
Lino Julien Prop (2004-07-27) 27 July 2004 (age 20) 9   Racing 92
Thomas Marceline Prop (2005-06-18) 18 June 2005 (age 19) 0   Lyon
Antonin Corso Lock (2004-04-09) 9 April 2004 (age 20) 3   Oyonnax
Charles Kanté-Samba Lock (2005-02-08) 8 February 2005 (age 19) 0   La Rochelle
Brent Liufau Lock (2004-03-21) 21 March 2004 (age 20) 12   Pau
Corentin Mézou Lock (2005-04-20) 20 April 2005 (age 19) 4   Toulon
Mathis Castro-Ferreira Back row (2004-01-13) 13 January 2004 (age 20) 9   Toulouse
Alexis Caumel Back row (2004-07-20) 20 July 2004 (age 20) 0   Colomiers
Charly Gambini1 Back row (2004-01-15) 15 January 2004 (age 20) 4   Provence Rugby
Geoffrey Malaterre Back row (2005-08-09) 9 August 2005 (age 19) 2   Brive
Joé Quere-Karaba Back row (2004-09-28) 28 September 2004 (age 20) 4   Toulon Bègles
Sialevailea Tolofua Back row (2005-07-09) 9 July 2005 (age 19) 4   Toulouse
Léo Carbonneau Scrum-half (2004-10-07) 7 October 2004 (age 20) 11   Brive
Thomas Souverbie Scrum-half (2004-06-28) 28 June 2004 (age 20) 4   Pau
Axel Desperes Fly-half (2004-01-16) 16 January 2004 (age 20) 5   Pau
Hugo Reus (c) Fly-half (2004-07-26) 26 July 2004 (age 20) 9   La Rochelle
Mathys Belaubre Centre (2005-03-15) 15 March 2005 (age 19) 1   Clermont
Maxence Biasotto Centre (2004-07-08) 8 July 2004 (age 20) 6   Brive
Fabien Brau-Boirie Centre (2005-12-19) 19 December 2005 (age 18) 4   Pau
Robin Taccola Centre (2005-05-04) 4 May 2005 (age 19) 4   Vannes
Nathan Bollengier Wing (2004-01-18) 18 January 2004 (age 20) 1   La Rochelle
Hoani Bosmorin Wing (2004-12-27) 27 December 2004 (age 19) 2   La Rochelle
Mathis Ferté Fullback (2004-02-02) 2 February 2004 (age 20) 10   Brive
Xan Mousques Fullback (2005-11-18) 18 November 2005 (age 18) 3   Bayonne

Previous squads

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The following 30 players were called up for the 2023 World Rugby Under 20 Championship in South Africa.[6]

(c) Denotes team captain
(vc) Denotes team vice-captain

The following 28 players were called up for the 2019 World Rugby Under 20 Championship in Argentina.[7]

(c) Denotes team captain

The following 30 players were called up for the 2018 World Rugby Under 20 Championship in France.[8]

(c) Denotes team captain

Award winners

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The following France U20s players have been recognised at the World Rugby Awards since 2008:[9]

World Rugby Junior Player of the Year
Year Nominees Winners
2018 Jordan Joseph Jordan Joseph
Romain Ntamack
2019 Louis Carbonel

Competitive record

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World Rugby Under 20 Championship

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Year Round Position Pld W D L PF PA
  2008 5th-8th place 6th 5 3 0 2 155 102
  2009 5th-8th place 5th 5 4 0 1 202 100
  2010 5th-8th place 5th 5 4 0 1 146 94
  2011 Semi-final 4th 5 3 0 2 117 114
  2012 5th-8th place 6th 5 3 0 2 102 89
  2013 5th-8th place 5th 5 3 0 2 116 101
  2014 5th-8th place 6th 5 3 0 2 105 83
  2015 Semi-final 4th 5 3 0 2 121 111
  2016 9th-12th place 9th 5 3 0 2 160 129
  2017 Semi-final 4th 5 2 1 2 144 124
  2018 Champions 1st 5 5 0 0 145 97
  2019 Champions 1st 5 4 0 1 138 110
2020–2022 Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
  2023 Champions 1st 5 5 0 0 255 90
  2024
Total 13/13 3 Titles 65 45 1 19 1906 1344

Honours

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References

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  1. ^ "Les Bleuets remportent le Tournoi" [The Bleuets won the Championship]. Rugbyrama (in French). 18 March 2018. Retrieved 15 July 2023.
  2. ^ Burgaud, Florian (14 July 2023). "XV de France U20 - Les Bleuets sur le toit du monde, la France sacrée pour la troisième fois de suite" [France U20 - The Bleuets on top of the world, France crowned three times in a row]. Rugbyrama (in French). Retrieved 15 July 2023.
  3. ^ "Jean-Marc Béderède : " Amener le maximum de joueurs vers le XV de France "" [Jean-Marc Béderède: "Drive as many players as possible to the XV de France] (in French). FFR. 15 July 2022. Retrieved 22 June 2023.
  4. ^ Baty, Pierre (23 June 2024). "France moins 20 ans : Le groupe pour le Championnat du monde" [France U20: The squad for the World Championship] (in French). FFR. Retrieved 26 June 2024.
  5. ^ "Charly Gambini remplace Zinédine Aouad chez les Bleuets". L'Équipe (in French). 5 July 2024. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
  6. ^ "Le groupe de France moins 20 ans pour le Championnat du monde" [France U20 squad for the World Cup] (in French). FFR. 1 June 2023. Retrieved 22 June 2023.
  7. ^ "France moins 20 ans : Le groupe pour le Championnat du monde" [France U20: The squad for the World Cup] (in French). FFR. 27 May 2019. Retrieved 22 June 2023.
  8. ^ "Champion du monde -20 : Une question de confiance !" [U20 World Champion: a matter of trust!] (in French). FFR. 5 October 2018. Retrieved 22 June 2023.
  9. ^ "Awards Roll of Honour - World Rugby". www.world.rugby. Retrieved 16 March 2024.