French Barbarians

French Barbarians
(French: Barbarians français)
Nickname(s)Les Baa-Baas
Coach(es)Denis Charvet
Team kit
First match
French Barbarians 26 – 22  Scotland
(2 May 1980)
Largest win
French Barbarians 45 – 4  Japan
(27 October 1985)
Largest defeat
 XV du Président 83 – 12 French Barbarians
(20 September 2003)

The Barbarian Rugby Club, more commonly known as the French Barbarians, is a rugby union team formed in 1979 and based in France. It was founded as an amateur invitational team modeled on the Barbarian F.C.

From the start of the 2017–18 season, the French Barbarians became the official second national team of the French Rugby Federation,[1] which had previously designated either the France U20 side or France A as that team.[2][3] This decision was reversed in 2019, to allow for the creation of a new second national team as a development side (above the Under 20s team but below the first men's team). [4]

The French Barbarians play in sky, navy and royal blue hooped jerseys. As with the original Barbarians, players retain the socks from their "home" club strip.

History

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Jean-Claude Skrela founded the club after he had played for, and adored, the original Barbarians in the later days of his career. Through the amateur era, all players chosen for the side were either French or played for French clubs.

One of the most recent matches was against the Argentina national team (Los Pumas) in early 2007, as part of their preparation for the 2007 Rugby World Cup. For the game, held in Biarritz, the coaches were Jacques Delmas (Biarritz), Patrice Lagisquet (Biarritz) and were captained by Thomas Lièvremont. While in 2008 they beat Canada in Victoria. They played with Argentina at José Amalfitani Stadium in Buenos Aires on 20 June 2009 as part of the mid-year test series, and lost 32–18.

In 2016 the French Barbarians beat Australia XV by 19–11 in their first match against an Australian side for over twenty years. And in late 2017 they beat the Māori All Blacks 19–15, which was the first time playing that side.

Matches against international sides

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Date Venue Opposing Teams For Against Result
1 May 1980 Stade Armandie, Agen  Scotland 26 22 Won
7 November 1981 Stade Jean Dauger, Bayonne  New Zealand 18 28 Lost
11 November 1982 Stade Maurice Boyau, Dax  Argentina 8 22 Lost
23 November 1983 Stade Mayol, Toulon  Australia 21 23 Lost
22 October 1985 Stade Jean-Martinaud, Cognac  Japan 45 4 Won
10 May 1986 Stade Armandie, Agen  Scotland 32 19 Won
11 November 1986 Stade Marcel-Deflandre, La Rochelle  New Zealand 12 26 Lost
22 May 1988 Stade Marcel-Deflandre, La Rochelle  Ireland 41 26 Won
22 October 1989 Stade Chaban-Delmas, Bordeaux  Fiji 16 32 Lost
27 October 1990 Stade Armandie, Agen  New Zealand 13 23 Lost
31 October 1992 Stadium Lille Métropole, Villeneuve-d'Ascq  South Africa 25 20 Won
11 November 1993 Stade Marcel-Michelin, Clermont-Ferrand  Australia 26 43 Lost
1 November 1995 Stade Mayol, Toulon  New Zealand 19 34 Lost
23 November 1996 Stade Amédée-Domenech, Brive  South Africa 30 22 Won
11 November 1997 Parc des Sports Aguiléra, Biarritz  South Africa 40 22 Won
11 November 1998 Stade Pierre Rajon, Bourgoin-Jallieu  Argentina 38 30 Won
27 May 2000 Millennium Stadium, Cardiff  Wales 33 40 Lost
7 November 2000 Stade Félix-Bollaert, Lens  New Zealand 23 21 Won
18 November 2001 Stade Mayol, Toulon  Fiji 15 17 Lost
20 September 2003 Parc des Sports et de l'Amitié, Narbonne  XV du Président[n 1][5] 12 83 Lost
3 March 2007 Parc des Sports Aguiléra, Biarritz  Argentina 14 28 Lost
28 June 2008 Esquimalt's Bullen Park, Victoria  Canada 17 7 Won
20 June 2009 José Amalfitani Stadium, Buenos Aires  Argentina 18 32 Lost
26 November 2010 Stade des Alpes, Grenoble  Tonga 27 28 Lost
4 June 2011 Independiente Stadium, Avellaneda  Argentina 19 23 Lost
11 June 2011 Estadio Centenario, Resistencia  Argentina 21 18 Won
20 June 2012 Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium, Tokyo  Japan 40 21 Won
24 June 2012 Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium, Tokyo  Japan 51 18 Won
25 November 2012 Stade Océane, Le Havre  Japan 64 41 Won
16 November 2013 Stade Marcel-Michelin, Clermont-Ferrand  Samoa 20 19 Won
14 November 2014 Stade Mayol, Toulon  Namibia 35 14 Won
20 June 2015 Old Resian Club, Rosario  Argentina 28 22 Won
26 June 2015 La Plata Rugby Club, La Plata  Argentina 9 21 Lost
24 November 2016 Stade Chaban-Delmas, Bordeaux Australia Wallaby XV 19 11 Won
10 November 2017 Stade Chaban-Delmas, Bordeaux New Zealand Māori All Blacks 19 15 Won
31 May 2018 Dinamo Arena, Tbilisi Georgia (country) Georgia 15 16 Lost
10 November 2018 Stade Chaban Delmas, Bordeaux  Tonga 38 49 Lost
13 November 2021 Stade de Gerland, Lyon  Tonga 42 17 Won
1 July 2022 Aveva Stadium, Houston  United States 21 26 Lost

Overall

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Against Played Won Lost Drawn Win %
 Argentina 8 3 5 0 37.5%
 Australia 2 0 2 0 0%
 Australia XV 1 1 0 0 100%
 Canada 1 1 0 0 100%
 Fiji 2 0 2 0 0%
 XV du Président 1 0 1 0 0%
 Georgia 1 0 1 0 0%
 Ireland 1 1 0 0 100%
 Japan 4 4 0 0 100%
 Namibia 1 1 0 0 100%
 New Zealand 5 1 4 0 20%
New Zealand Māori All Blacks 1 1 0 0 100%
 Samoa 1 1 0 0 100%
 Scotland 2 2 0 0 100%
 South Africa 3 3 0 0 100%
 Tonga 3 1 2 0 33%
 United States 1 0 1 0 0%
 Wales 1 0 1 0 0%
Total 38 20 18 0 52.63%

Current squad

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French Barbarians squad to face the United States on 1 July 2022.

Coaches: France Christian Labit and France Kevin Gourdon

Note: Bold denotes players that have represented the French Barbarians in previous matches. Italics represents uncapped players. Note: Flags indicate national union under World Rugby eligibility rules.

Player Position Date of birth (age) Club/province Union
Clément Maynadier Hooker (1988-10-11) 11 October 1988 (age 36) Bordeaux Bègles France France
Adrien Pélissié Hooker (1990-08-07) 7 August 1990 (age 34) Clermont Auvergne France France
Nicolas Corato Prop (1997-10-07) 7 October 1997 (age 27) Pau France France
Arthur Joly Prop (1988-02-20) 20 February 1988 (age 36) Perpignan France France
Jefferson Poirot Prop (1992-01-11) 11 January 1992 (age 32) Bordeaux Bègles France France
Sébastien Taofifénua Prop (1992-03-21) 21 March 1992 (age 32) Lyon France France
Alexandre Roumat Lock (1997-06-27) 27 June 1997 (age 27) Bordeaux Bègles France France
Romain Sazy Lock (1986-10-14) 14 October 1986 (age 38) La Rochelle France France
Esteban Abadie Back row (1997-12-01) 1 December 1997 (age 26) Brive France France
Anthime Hemery Back row (2001-01-09) 9 January 2001 (age 23) Racing 92 France France
Louis Picamoles Back row (1985-02-05) 5 February 1985 (age 39) Bordeaux Bègles France France
William Wavrin Back row (1991-01-06) 6 January 1991 (age 33) Stade Montois France France
Thomas Berjon Scrum-half (1998-04-12) 12 April 1998 (age 26) La Rochelle France France
Samuel Marques Scrum-half (1988-12-08) 8 December 1988 (age 35) Carcassonne Portugal Portugal
Louis Foursans Fly-half (2002-01-29) 29 January 2002 (age 22) Montpellier France France
François Trinh-Duc Fly-half (1986-11-11) 11 November 1986 (age 37) Bordeaux Bègles France France
Raphaël Lagarde Fly-half (1988-10-30) 30 October 1988 (age 35) Agen France France
Pierre Aguillon Centre (1987-03-27) 27 March 1987 (age 37) Castres France France
Jean-Baptiste Dubié Centre (1989-07-16) 16 July 1989 (age 35) Bordeaux Bègles France France
Adrien Lapègue Wing (1998-10-21) 21 October 1998 (age 26) Stade Français France France
Mathieu Acebes Fullback (1987-08-01) 1 August 1987 (age 37) Perpignan France France
Nans Ducuing Fullback (1991-11-06) 6 November 1991 (age 32) Bordeaux Bègles France France

Former players

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Honours

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See also

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Footnotes

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  1. ^ Containing mostly the same players as France's 2003 World Cup squad—except for those who played on the Baa-Baas such as Yannick Bru or Sébastien Chabal—this designation exists to circumvent World Rugby regulations and the Board's authority on allowing matches with international squads to be organized.

References

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  1. ^ "Les Barbarians Français deviennent une équipe nationale" (in French). Fédération Française de Rugby. 23 October 2017. Archived from the original on 6 November 2017. Retrieved 6 November 2017.
  2. ^ "Next Senior National Representative Team June 2003–2017" (PDF). World Rugby. 2012. Retrieved 7 November 2017.
  3. ^ "Next Senior National Representative Team June 2003–2012" (PDF). World Rugby. 2012. Retrieved 7 November 2017.
  4. ^ "Barbarians Français : Une équipe d'exception". Fédération Française de Rugby (in French). 4 June 2019. Retrieved 12 April 2024.
  5. ^ Bertrand Bourgeault (20 September 2003). "Un match pour quoi faire ?" (in French). Le Parisien.
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