History of rugby union matches between France and Wales

Last updated
Scene of the first Wales v France match ever, played in Cardiff on March 2, 1908 Wales france rugby 1908.jpg
Scene of the first Wales v France match ever, played in Cardiff on March 2, 1908

France and Wales have played each other at rugby union since 1908. A total of 104 matches have been played, with Wales winning 51 times, France 50 times and the remaining three finishing as draws.

Contents

The early years of the fixture were dominated by Wales, who won 18 of the first 19 matches before France were expelled from the Five Nations Championship after the 1931 tournament. Since France rejoined the competition in 1947, they have won 49 of the 85 matches played, including a 12-match winning streak between 1983 and 1993. The teams have met twice in the Rugby World Cup, firstly in the semi-finals of the 2011 tournament, which France won 9–8, then in the quarter-finals of the 2019 Rugby World Cup, which Wales won 20–19. [1] [2]

Summary

Note: Summary below reflects test results by both teams.

Overview

DetailsPlayedWon by
France
Won by
Wales
DrawnFrance pointsWales points
In France4928201743657
In Wales5220302737899
Neutral venue32107928
Overall104505131,5591,584

Records

Note: Date shown in brackets indicates when the record was or last set.

RecordFranceWales
Longest winning streak12 (19 March 1983 – 19 February 1994)15 (2 March 1908 – 9 April 1928)
Largest points for
Home41 (18 March 2023)49 (1 January 1910)
Away51 (5 April 1998)47 (23 February 1909)
Largest winning margin
Home33 (2 March 1991)35 (1 January 1910)
Away51 (5 April 1998)42 (23 February 1909)

Results

No.DateVenueScoreWinnerCompetition
12 March 1908 National Stadium, Cardiff 36–4Flag of Wales (1807-1953).svg  Wales 1908 Home Nations Championship
223 February 1909 Stade Yves-du-Manoir, Colombes 5–47Flag of Wales (1807-1953).svg  Wales 1909 Home Nations Championship
31 January 1910St Helen's, Swansea 49–14Flag of Wales (1807-1953).svg  Wales 1910 Five Nations Championship
428 February 1911 Parc des Princes, Paris 0–15Flag of Wales (1807-1953).svg  Wales 1911 Five Nations Championship
525 March 1912 Rodney Parade, Newport 14–8Flag of Wales (1807-1953).svg  Wales 1912 Five Nations Championship
627 February 1913Parc des Princes, Paris8–11Flag of Wales (1807-1953).svg  Wales 1913 Five Nations Championship
72 March 1914St Helen's, Swansea31–0Flag of Wales (1807-1953).svg  Wales 1914 Five Nations Championship
817 February 1920Stade Yves-du-Manoir, Colombes5–6Flag of Wales (1807-1953).svg  Wales 1920 Five Nations Championship
926 February 1921National Stadium, Cardiff12–4Flag of Wales (1807-1953).svg  Wales 1921 Five Nations Championship
1023 March 1922Stade Yves-du-Manoir, Colombes3–11Flag of Wales (1807-1953).svg  Wales 1922 Five Nations Championship
1124 February 1923St Helen's, Swansea16–8Flag of Wales (1807-1953).svg  Wales 1923 Five Nations Championship
1227 March 1924Stade Yves-du-Manoir, Colombes6–10Flag of Wales (1807-1953).svg  Wales 1924 Five Nations Championship
1328 February 1925National Stadium, Cardiff11–5Flag of Wales (1807-1953).svg  Wales 1925 Five Nations Championship
145 April 1926Stade Yves-du-Manoir, Colombes5–7Flag of Wales (1807-1953).svg  Wales 1926 Five Nations Championship
1526 February 1927St Helen's, Swansea25–7Flag of Wales (1807-1953).svg  Wales 1927 Five Nations Championship
169 April 1928Stade Yves-du-Manoir, Colombes8–3Flag of France.svg  France 1928 Five Nations Championship
1723 February 1929National Stadium, Cardiff8–3Flag of Wales (1807-1953).svg  Wales 1929 Five Nations Championship
1821 April 1930Stade Yves-du-Manoir, Colombes0–11Flag of Wales (1807-1953).svg  Wales 1930 Five Nations Championship
1928 February 1931St Helen's, Swansea35–3Flag of Wales (1807-1953).svg  Wales 1931 Five Nations Championship
2022 March 1947Stade Yves-du-Manoir, Colombes0–3Flag of Wales (1807-1953).svg  Wales 1947 Five Nations Championship
2121 February 1948St Helen's, Swansea3–11Flag of France.svg  France 1948 Five Nations Championship
2226 March 1949Stade Yves-du-Manoir, Colombes5–3Flag of France.svg  France 1949 Five Nations Championship
2325 March 1950National Stadium, Cardiff21–0Flag of Wales (1807-1953).svg  Wales 1950 Five Nations Championship
247 April 1951Stade Yves-du-Manoir, Colombes8–3Flag of France.svg  France 1951 Five Nations Championship
2522 March 1952St Helen's, Swansea9–5Flag of Wales (1807-1953).svg  Wales 1952 Five Nations Championship
2628 March 1953Stade Yves-du-Manoir, Colombes3–6Flag of Wales (1953-1959).svg  Wales 1953 Five Nations Championship
2727 March 1954National Stadium, Cardiff19–13Flag of Wales (1953-1959).svg  Wales 1954 Five Nations Championship
2826 March 1955Stade Yves-du-Manoir, Colombes11–16Flag of Wales (1953-1959).svg  Wales 1955 Five Nations Championship
2924 March 1956National Stadium, Cardiff5–3Flag of Wales (1953-1959).svg  Wales 1956 Five Nations Championship
3023 March 1957Stade Yves-du-Manoir, Colombes13–19Flag of Wales (1953-1959).svg  Wales 1957 Five Nations Championship
3129 March 1958National Stadium, Cardiff6–16Flag of France.svg  France 1958 Five Nations Championship
324 April 1959Stade Yves-du-Manoir, Colombes11–3Flag of France.svg  France 1959 Five Nations Championship
3326 March 1960National Stadium, Cardiff8–16Flag of France.svg  France 1960 Five Nations Championship
3425 March 1961Stade Yves-du-Manoir, Colombes8–6Flag of France.svg  France 1961 Five Nations Championship
3524 March 1962National Stadium, Cardiff3–0Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg  Wales 1962 Five Nations Championship
3623 March 1963Stade Yves-du-Manoir, Colombes5–3Flag of France.svg  France 1963 Five Nations Championship
3721 March 1964National Stadium, Cardiff11–11draw 1964 Five Nations Championship
3827 March 1965Stade Yves-du-Manoir, Colombes22–13Flag of France.svg  France 1965 Five Nations Championship
3926 March 1966National Stadium, Cardiff9–8Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg  Wales 1966 Five Nations Championship
401 April 1967Stade Yves-du-Manoir, Colombes20–14Flag of France.svg  France 1967 Five Nations Championship
4123 March 1968National Stadium, Cardiff9–14Flag of France.svg  France 1968 Five Nations Championship
4222 March 1969Stade Yves-du-Manoir, Colombes8–8draw 1969 Five Nations Championship
434 April 1970National Stadium, Cardiff11–6Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg  Wales 1970 Five Nations Championship
4427 March 1971Stade Yves-du-Manoir, Colombes5–9Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg  Wales 1971 Five Nations Championship
4525 March 1972National Stadium, Cardiff20–6Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg  Wales 1972 Five Nations Championship
4624 March 1973Parc des Princes, Paris12–3Flag of France.svg  France 1973 Five Nations Championship
4716 February 1974National Stadium, Cardiff16–16draw 1974 Five Nations Championship
4818 January 1975Parc des Princes, Paris10–25Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg  Wales 1975 Five Nations Championship
496 March 1976National Stadium, Cardiff19–13Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg  Wales 1976 Five Nations Championship
505 February 1977Parc des Princes, Paris16–9Flag of France (lighter variant).svg  France 1977 Five Nations Championship
5118 March 1978National Stadium, Cardiff16–7Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg  Wales 1978 Five Nations Championship
5217 February 1979Parc des Princes, Paris14–13Flag of France (lighter variant).svg  France 1979 Five Nations Championship
5319 January 1980National Stadium, Cardiff18–9Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg  Wales 1980 Five Nations Championship
547 March 1981Parc des Princes, Paris19–15Flag of France (lighter variant).svg  France 1981 Five Nations Championship
556 February 1982National Stadium, Cardiff22–12Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg  Wales 1982 Five Nations Championship
5619 March 1983Parc des Princes, Paris16–9Flag of France (lighter variant).svg  France 1983 Five Nations Championship
5718 February 1984National Stadium, Cardiff16–21Flag of France (lighter variant).svg  France 1984 Five Nations Championship
5830 March 1985Parc des Princes, Paris14–3Flag of France (lighter variant).svg  France 1985 Five Nations Championship
591 March 1986National Stadium, Cardiff15–23Flag of France (lighter variant).svg  France 1986 Five Nations Championship
607 February 1987Parc des Princes, Paris16–9Flag of France (lighter variant).svg  France 1987 Five Nations Championship
6119 March 1988National Stadium, Cardiff9–10Flag of France (lighter variant).svg  France 1988 Five Nations Championship
6218 February 1989Parc des Princes, Paris31–12Flag of France (lighter variant).svg  France 1989 Five Nations Championship
6320 January 1990National Stadium, Cardiff19–29Flag of France (lighter variant).svg  France 1990 Five Nations Championship
642 March 1991Parc des Princes, Paris36–3Flag of France (lighter variant).svg  France 1991 Five Nations Championship
654 September 1991National Stadium, Cardiff9–22Flag of France (lighter variant).svg  France 1991 Rugby World Cup warm-up match
661 February 1992National Stadium, Cardiff9–12Flag of France (lighter variant).svg  France 1992 Five Nations Championship
6720 March 1993Parc des Princes, Paris26–10Flag of France (lighter variant).svg  France 1993 Five Nations Championship
6819 February 1994National Stadium, Cardiff24–15Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg  Wales 1994 Five Nations Championship
6921 January 1995Parc des Princes, Paris21–9Flag of France (lighter variant).svg  France 1995 Five Nations Championship
7016 March 1996National Stadium, Cardiff16–15Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg  Wales 1996 Five Nations Championship
7125 September 1996National Stadium, Cardiff33–40Flag of France (lighter variant).svg  France 1996 France tour of Wales
7215 February 1997Parc des Princes, Paris27–22Flag of France (lighter variant).svg  France 1997 Five Nations Championship
735 April 1998 Wembley Stadium, London (England)0–51Flag of France (lighter variant).svg  France 1998 Five Nations Championship
746 March 1999 Stade de France, Saint-Denis 33–34Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg  Wales 1999 Five Nations Championship
7528 August 1999 Millennium Stadium, Cardiff34–23Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg  Wales 1999 Rugby World Cup warm-up match
765 February 2000Millennium Stadium, Cardiff3–36Flag of France (lighter variant).svg  France 2000 Six Nations Championship
7717 March 2001Stade de France, Saint-Denis35–43Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg  Wales 2001 Six Nations Championship
7816 February 2002Millennium Stadium, Cardiff33–37Flag of France (lighter variant).svg  France 2002 Six Nations Championship
7929 March 2003Stade de France, Saint-Denis33–5Flag of France (lighter variant).svg  France 2003 Six Nations Championship
807 March 2004Millennium Stadium, Cardiff22–29Flag of France (lighter variant).svg  France 2004 Six Nations Championship
8126 February 2005Stade de France, Saint-Denis18–24Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg  Wales 2005 Six Nations Championship
8218 March 2006Millennium Stadium, Cardiff16–21Flag of France (lighter variant).svg  France 2006 Six Nations Championship
8324 February 2007Stade de France, Saint-Denis32–21Flag of France (lighter variant).svg  France 2007 Six Nations Championship
8426 August 2007Millennium Stadium, Cardiff7–34Flag of France (lighter variant).svg  France 2007 Rugby World Cup warm-up match
8515 March 2008Millennium Stadium, Cardiff29–12Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg  Wales 2008 Six Nations Championship
8627 February 2009Stade de France, Saint-Denis21–16Flag of France (lighter variant).svg  France 2009 Six Nations Championship
8726 February 2010Millennium Stadium, Cardiff20–26Flag of France (lighter variant).svg  France 2010 Six Nations Championship
8819 March 2011Stade de France, Saint-Denis28–9Flag of France (lighter variant).svg  France 2011 Six Nations Championship
8915 October 2011 Eden Park, Auckland (New Zealand)8–9Flag of France (lighter variant).svg  France 2011 Rugby World Cup
9017 March 2012Millennium Stadium, Cardiff16–9Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg  Wales 2012 Six Nations Championship
919 February 2013Stade de France, Saint-Denis6–16Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg  Wales 2013 Six Nations Championship
9221 February 2014Millennium Stadium, Cardiff27–6Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg  Wales 2014 Six Nations Championship
9328 February 2015Stade de France, Saint-Denis13–20Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg  Wales 2015 Six Nations Championship
9426 February 2016Millennium Stadium, Cardiff19–10Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg  Wales 2016 Six Nations Championship
9518 March 2017Stade de France, Saint-Denis20–18Flag of France (lighter variant).svg  France 2017 Six Nations Championship
9617 March 2018Millennium Stadium, Cardiff14–13Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg  Wales 2018 Six Nations Championship
971 February 2019Stade de France, Saint-Denis19–24Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg  Wales 2019 Six Nations Championship
9820 October 2019 Ōita Stadium, Ōita (Japan)20–19Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg  Wales 2019 Rugby World Cup
9922 February 2020Millennium Stadium, Cardiff23–27Flag of France (lighter variant).svg  France 2020 Six Nations Championship
10024 October 2020Stade de France, Saint-Denis38–21Flag of France.svg  France 2020 Autumn International
10120 March 2021Stade de France, Saint-Denis32–30Flag of France.svg  France 2021 Six Nations Championship
10211 March 2022Millennium Stadium, Cardiff9–13Flag of France.svg  France 2022 Six Nations Championship
10318 March 2023Stade de France, Saint-Denis41–28Flag of France.svg  France 2023 Six Nations Championship
10410 March 2024Millennium Stadium, Cardiff24–45Flag of France.svg  France 2024 Six Nations Championship

XV results

Below is a list of matches that France has awarded matches test match status by virtue of awarding caps, but Wales did not award caps.

DateVenueScoreWinnerCompetition
22 December 1945St. Helen's, Swansea8–0Flag of Wales (1807-1953).svg  Wales XV Victory International
22 April 1946Stade Yves-du-Manoir, Colombes12–0Flag of France.svg  France XV Victory International

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References

  1. "Rugby World Cup 2011: Wales fall to France as red card colours game". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 March 2024.
  2. "Wales 20-19 France: Rugby World Cup 2019, quarter-final – as it happened". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 March 2024.