POOL A
FRANCE
With a team of dazzling talents playing on home soil, everything is teed up for les Bleus. Can they finally get their hands on the trophy?
ODDS 11-4
DID YOU KNOW?
Of the five countries to have reached a World Cup final, France are the only one not to have won the tournament. New Zealand, Australia, South Africa and England have all topped the tree at some point. France, however, have lost finals in 1987, 1999 and 2011. But they’ve made the final every 12 years…
WORLD CUP HIGH
The 1999 semi-final fightback against the All Blacks will likely only ever be topped by winning a World Cup. At 24-10 the game looked over but, in an irresistible surge, France scored 33 unanswered points to win 43-31 and have fans dancing in the Twickenham aisles.
WORLD CUP LOW
The 19-10 quarter-final loss to England in Paris in 1991 was more brawl than rugby match. France took England on up front and came off second best. “The referee turned a blind eye to English foul play,” complained Serge Blanco, bitterly.
STRENGTHS
France’s biggest strength is surely their depth in playing resources. The 2022 Six Nations Grand Slam winners can call upon three to four outstanding players per position. It’s a credit to the squad that there are just two or three truly deemed irreplaceable.
WORK-ONS
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة October 2023 من Rugby World.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة October 2023 من Rugby World.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
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Rugby firsts
FIRST RUGBY match you went to? I would have gone to RODNEY PARADE to watch a Newport game when I was about six years old, so around 1992 or 1993.
THE JOHN FISHER STATE SCHOOL RUGBY FESTIVAL
The inaugural John Fisher Rugby Festival hopes to Send state-school rugby players into the stratosphere.
The Making Of Robbie Henshaw
How this small-town boy went On to become a big-time player
RG SNYMAN
The giant Springbok is enjoying the best of both worlds since joining Leinster
BENHARD JANSE VAN RENSBURG
Bristol's South African centre has one eye on an England call-up in 2026
RUGBY RANT
Jessica Hayden, author of The Red Roses, says the women’s game can handle criticism
WHAT IT'S LIKE TO ...GO ON TOUR WITH EMERGING IRELAND
Munster's Ben O'Connor tells RW about the eye-opening trip to South Africa
"Welsh rugby treats players like pieces of meat, not assets"
THEY’VE BUILT the women’s game around the men’s game in Wales but it has to be its own thing.
"I don't believe in dinosaurs – the boys think it's nuts!"
The Exeter Chiefs hooker talks Tarmac, time travel and Tyson Fury
