Skip to content
Surf Wiki
Save to docs
sports

From Surf Wiki (app.surf) — the open knowledge base

France national under-20 rugby union team


FieldValue
countryFrance
imageFranceU20Rugbylogo.png
imagesize115
unionFrench Rugby Federation
nicknameLes Bleuets (The Little Blues)
captainHugo Reus
coachSébastien Calvet
capsKilian Geraci (18)
Jordan Joseph (18)
top scorerLouis Carbonel (169)
most triesJordan Joseph (12)
firstFRA France 12–6 Scotland Scotland
(1 February 2008)
bigwinFRA France 75–12 Japan Japan
(24 June 2023)
biglossNew Zealand New Zealand 45–7 France FRA
(15 June 2015)
World cup apps13 (first in 2008)
best*Champions (3): 2018, 2019 and 2023*

Jordan Joseph (18) (1 February 2008) (24 June 2023) (15 June 2015) 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.

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, 2018 and 2025, 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.

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

Current staff

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.

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

Previous head coaches

PictureHead coachTenureHonours[[File:Philippe Sella.jpg60px]]FRA Philippe Sella[[File:Fabien Pelous 2008 (cropped).jpg60px]]FRA Fabien Pelous[[File:Thomas Lièvremont (cropped).jpg60px]]FRA Thomas LièvremontFRA Sébastien PiqueroniesFRA Philippe BoherFRA Jean-Marc BéderèdeFRA Sébastien Calvet
2008–20112009 U20 Six Nations Championship
2011 U20 Six Nations Championship
2008 U20 Six Nations Championship
2011–20152014 U20 Six Nations Championship – Grand Slam
2012 U20 Six Nations Championship
2015 U20 Six Nations Championship
2015–20172016 U20 Six Nations Championship
2017 U20 Six Nations Championship
2017–20192018 World Rugby U20 Championship
2019 World Rugby U20 Championship
2018 U20 Six Nations Championship
2019 U20 Six Nations Championship
2019–20212021 U20 Six Nations Championship
2021–20222022 U20 Six Nations Championship
2022–2023 World Rugby U20 Championship
2023 U20 Six Nations Championship

Players

Current squad

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

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

Head coach: FRA Sébastien Calvet

  • Caps updated: 15 March 2024

Previous squads

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

(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.

(c) Denotes team captain

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

(c) Denotes team captain

Award winners

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

YearNomineesWinners
2018Jordan JosephJordan Joseph
Romain Ntamack
2019Louis Carbonel

Competitive record

World Rugby Under 20 Championship

YearRoundPositionPldWDLPFPA
Wales 20085th-8th place6th5302155102
Japan 20095th-8th place5th5401202100
Argentina 20105th-8th place5th540114694
Italy 2011Semi-final4th5302117114
South Africa 20125th-8th place6th530210289
France 20135th-8th place5th5302116101
New Zealand 20145th-8th place6th530210583
Italy 2015Semi-final4th5302121111
England 20169th-12th place9th5302160129
Georgia 2017Semi-final4th5212144124
France 2018Champions1st550014597
Argentina 2019Champions1st5401138110
2020–2022Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
South Africa 2023Champions1st550025590
South Africa 2024
Total13/133 Titles654511919061344

Honours

References

References

  1. (18 March 2018). "Les Bleuets remportent le Tournoi".
  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".
  3. (15 July 2022). "Jean-Marc Béderède : " Amener le maximum de joueurs vers le XV de France "". [[French Rugby Federation.
  4. Baty, Pierre. (23 June 2024). "France moins 20 ans : Le groupe pour le Championnat du monde". [[French Rugby Federation.
  5. (5 July 2024). "Charly Gambini remplace Zinédine Aouad chez les Bleuets". [[L'Équipe]].
  6. (1 June 2023). "Le groupe de France moins 20 ans pour le Championnat du monde". [[French Rugby Federation.
  7. (27 May 2019). "France moins 20 ans : Le groupe pour le Championnat du monde". [[French Rugby Federation.
  8. (5 October 2018). "Champion du monde -20 : Une question de confiance !". [[French Rugby Federation.
  9. "Awards Roll of Honour - World Rugby".
Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

Want to explore this topic further?

Ask Mako anything about France national under-20 rugby union team — get instant answers, deeper analysis, and related topics.

Research with Mako

Free with your Surf account

Content sourced from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This content may have been generated or modified by AI. CloudSurf Software LLC is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of AI-generated content. Always verify important information from primary sources.

Report