France

Rugby was introduced to France in 1872 by English merchants and students. On 26 February 1890, a French rugby team recruited from the Janson de Sailly Lyceum defeated an international team at the Bois de Boulogne.

Although France were represented at the 1900 Summer Olympics, their first official test match did not take place until New Year's Day 1906, against the New Zealand All Blacks in Paris. France then played intermittently against the Home Nations until they joined them to form the Five Nations tournament in 1910. In 1913 France faced South Africa's Springboks for the first time; losing 38–5. France also competed at the 1920 and 1924 Summer Olympics, and on both occasions lost to the United States in the gold medal match.

France were ejected from the Five Nations in 1932 after being accused of professionalism in the French leagues at a time when rugby union was strictly amateur. Forced to play against weaker opposition, France went on a winning streak; winning ten games in a row during the years from 1931 to 1936. France was invited to rejoin the Five Nations in 1939 but did not compete until 1947 as international rugby was suspended during World War II.

French rugby came of age during the 1950s and 1960s: they won their first Five Nations championship and completed a successful tour of South Africa. Their first championship was won in 1954 when they shared the title with England and Wales. France won their first outright Five Nations championship in 1959; they won with two wins, a draw (against England) and a defeat (against Ireland).

France first toured South Africa winning the test series in 1958. The Springboks also visited Paris in 1961, the test was not completed due to onfield fighting among the players. France also toured New Zealand and Australia in 1961 losing both tests against the All Blacks but defeating Australia's Wallabies. They won their first Five Nations Grand Slam in 1968 by beating all four other competing teams, and won numerous titles in the following years.

In 1977, France won their second Grand Slam, fielding an unchanged side throughout the tournament and conceding no tries. They also defeated the All Blacks in Toulouse that year, but lost the return match in Paris. On Bastille Day, 1979 they defeated the All Blacks in New Zealand for the first time, at Eden Park in Auckland.

In 1981 the French clinched their third Grand Slam; at Twickenham against England. They again completed a Grand Slam in 1987 on the eve of the first Rugby World Cup hosted by Australia and New Zealand. In that tournament they came from behind numerous times to defeat the Wallabies in their semi-final, and faced the All Blacks in final at Eden Park, Auckland; France lost 29–9. They shared the Five Nations with Wales the next year, and also won it in 1989.

France hosted some of the tests during the 1991 World Cup, but were knocked out by England at the Parc des Princes (Paris) in the quarter-finals. France won the Five Nations championship in 1993. In 1994 France won a test series 2–0 in New Zealand. They were knocked out of the 1995 World Cup semi-finals by eventual champions the Springboks, but did win their third place play-off match against England. In November 1995, France played the All Blacks in two tests, winning the first 22–15 at Toulouse and losing the second 37–12 at Paris. France won back-to-back Grand Slams in 1997 and 1998. At the 1999 World Cup they defeated tournament favourites the All Blacks in the semi-finals, but lost to the Wallabies in the final.

The Five Nations Championship was expanded in 2000 to include Italy. In the now Six Nations Championship France won a Grand Slam in 2002. At the 2003 World Cup in Australia they qualified for the semi-finals where they were defeated by eventual champions England. In 2004, they won a second Six Nations Grand Slam, which was followed by a Championship win in 2006 and a successful defence in 2007.

In the 2007 Rugby World Cup, they finished second in their pool. They beat Namibia (87–10), Ireland (25–3), Georgia (64–7), but lost to Argentina (12–17). In the quarter-final, they defeated New Zealand (20–18), but lost to England in the semi-final (9–14). In the 3rd place playoff match, they lost to Argentina (10–34). In 2010, France won their 9th grand slam.

In the 2011 Six Nations Championship, they beat Scotland (34–21), Ireland (25–22), Wales (28–9), but lost to England (9–17) and Italy (21–22). They finished in 2nd place. In the 2011 Rugby World Cup, France finished second in their pool. They defeated Japan (47–21), Canada (46–19) but lost to New Zealand (17–37) and suffered a shock defeat to Tonga (14–19). In the quarter-final, they defeated England (19–12), defeated Wales (9–8) in the semi-final but lost (7–8) to the All Blacks in the final. This was France's third loss in a row in a RWC final.

In the 2012 Six Nations Championship, France defeated Italy (30–12), Scotland (23–17), drew with Ireland (17–17), but lost to England (22–24) and Wales (6–19). They finished the tournament in 4th place. In the 2012 French tour of Argentina, they split the series 1–1. They lost the first test match (20–23) in Córdoba, but won the second test match (49–10) in Tucumán. In the 2012 Autumn Internationals, they defeated Australia (33–6), Argentina (39–22), and Samoa (22–14).

In the 2013 Six Nations Championship, France had a miserable campaign, they lost to Italy (18–23), Wales (6–16), England (13–23), drew with Ireland (13–13) and won against Scotland (23–16). They finished the tournament in last place and therefore received the wooden spoon. In the 2013 French tour of New Zealand, they lost all 3 test matches to the All Blacks. The first defeat was in Auckland (13–23), the second in Christchurch (0–30) and the third in New Plymouth (9–24). They were swept and lost the series 0–3. In the 2013 Autumn Internationals, they lost to New Zealand (19–26), defeated Tonga (38–18), before losing to South Africa (10–19).

In the 2014 Six Nations Championship, France defeated England (26–24), Italy (30–10), Scotland (19–17), but lost to Wales (6–27), and Ireland (20–22). They finished the tournament in 4th place. In the 2014 French tour of Australia, France were swept and lost the test series 0–3. They lost (13–39) in Sydney, (0–6) in Melbourne and (23–50) in Brisbane. In the 2014 Autumn Internationals, they defeated Australia (29–26), lost to Argentina (13–18), and won against Fiji (40–15).

In the 2015 Six Nations Championship, they beat Italy (29–0), Scotland (15–8) but lost to England (35–55), Wales (13–20) and Ireland (11–18). They finished in 4th place. In the 2015 Rugby World Cup, they finished second in their pool. They defeated Italy (32–10), Romania (38–11), Canada (41–18) but lost to Ireland (9–24). In the quarter-final, they suffered a heavy defeat to New Zealand (13–62).

In the 2016 Six Nations Championship, they defeated Italy (23–21), Ireland (10–9), but lost to Wales (10–19), Scotland (18–29), and England (21–31). They finished in 5th place. In the 2016 French tour of Argentina, the test series was split 1–1. They lost the first test match (19–30), but won the second match (27–0). In the 2016 Autumn Internationals, they lost to Australia (23–25), New Zealand (19–24) before defeating Samoa (52–8).

In the 2017 Six Nations Championship, France defeated Scotland (22–16), Italy (40–18), Wales (20–18), but lost to England (16–19), and Ireland (9–19). They finished in 3rd place. In the 2017 French tour of South Africa, the French lost the test series 0–3. They lost (14–37) in Pretoria, (15–37) in Durban and (12–35) in Johannesburg. In the 2017 Autumn Internationals, they lost to New Zealand (18–38), South Africa (17–18), and drew with Japan (23–23).

In the 2018 Six Nations Championship, France beat Italy (34–17), England (22–16), but lost to Ireland (13–15), Scotland (26–32), and Wales (13–14). They finished in 4th place. In the 2018 French tour of New Zealand, they lost the test series 0–3. They were defeated (11–52) in Auckland, (13–26) in Wellington, and (14–49) in Dunedin. In the 2018 Autumn Internationals, they lost to South Africa (26–29), Fiji (14–21) but won against Argentina (28–13).

In the 2019 Six Nations Championship, they beat Scotland (27–10), Italy (25–14), but lost to Wales (19–24), England (8–44), and Ireland (14–26). They finished in 4th place. In the 2019 Rugby World Cup, France finished second in their pool. They beat Argentina (23–21), United States (33–9), and Tonga (23–21). Their game against England was cancelled due to effects of Typhoon Hagibis. In the quarter-final, they were defeated by Wales (19–20).

In the 2020 Six Nations Championship, France defeated England (24–17), Italy (35–22), Wales (27–23), Ireland (35–27) but lost to Scotland (28–17). Despite finishing with the same record and points as England, they finished in 2nd place due to points difference. In the 2020 Autumn Nations Cup, they finished atop of their pool after beating Scotland (22–15), and Italy (36–5). Their match against Fiji was cancelled due to Covid-19 and France was awarded an automatic (28–0) bonus point victory. They faced England in the final but lost (19–22).

In the 2021 Six Nations Championship, they defeated Italy (50–10), Ireland (15–13), Wales (32–30) but lost to England (20–23), and Scotland (23–27). They finished in 2nd place. In the 2021 French tour of Australia, France lost the test series 1–2. They lost (21–23) in Brisbane, won (28–26) in Sydney before losing (30–33) again in Brisbane. In the 2021 Autumn Internationals, they defeated New Zealand (40–25), Georgia (41–15), and Argentina (29–20).

In the 2022 Six Nations Championship, France won their 10th grand slam. They defeated Italy (37–10), Ireland (30–24), Scotland (36–17), Wales (13–9), and England (25–13). They finished in first place and won their 26th championship. In the 2022 French tour of Japan, France won the test series 2–0. After winning (42–23) in Toyota and (25–20) in Tokyo, they ranked number One in the world for the first time in their history in July of 2022. In the 2022 Autumn Internationals, France beat Australia (30–29), South Africa (30–26), and Japan (35–17). The French recorded a perfect season, winning all 10 matches in 2022. They are the first team since the 2013 All Blacks to win all their games in a calendar year.

In the 2023 Six Nations Championship, France failed to retain their title. They beat Italy (29–24), Scotland (32–21), England (53–10), Wales (41–28), but lost to the eventual winners Ireland (19–32). They finished in 2nd place. In the 2023 Summer Nation Series, they lost to Scotland (21–25), before bouncing back the next week and beating them (30–27). They also beat Fiji (34–17) and Australia (41–17). In the 2023 Rugby World Cup, France were the host's. They finished atop of their pool after beating New Zealand (27–13), Uruguay (27–12), Namibia (96–0), and Italy (60–7). In the quarter-final, they suffered a (28–29) defeat to the eventual champions South Africa. This is the second time that France have been eliminated from their own home World Cup in the knockout stages.

In 2024 Six Nations Championship, they defeated Scotland (20–16), Wales (45–24), England (33–31), drew with Italy (13–13) and lost to Ireland (17–38). They finished in 2nd place. In the 2024 French tour of South America, they faced Argentina and Uruguay. They beat Argentina (28–13) in Mendoza, Uruguay (43–28) in Montevideo, before losing to Argentina in their second test match (25–33) in Buenous Aires. In the 2024 Autumn Internationals, they defeated New Zealand (30–29), Japan (52–12), Argentina (37–23).