France national under-20 rugby union team

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.

France

Union	French Rugby Federation
Nickname(s)	Les Bleuets (The Little Blues)
Coach(es)	Sébastien Calvet
Captain(s)	Mathis Castro-Ferreira
Most caps	Kilian Geraci (18) Jordan Joseph (18)
Top scorer	Louis Carbonel (169)
Most tries	Jordan Joseph (12)
First international
France 12–6 Scotland (1 February 2008)
Largest win
France 75–12 Japan (24 June 2023)
Largest defeat
New Zealand 45–7 France (15 June 2015)
World Cup
Appearances	13 (first in 2008)
Best result	Champions (3): 2018, 2019 and 2023

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 – and 2018,^[1] 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.^[2]

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.^[3]

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

Previous head coaches

Picture	Head coach	Tenure	Honours
	Philippe Sella	2008–2011	2009 U20 Six Nations Championship   2011 U20 Six Nations Championship   2008 U20 Six Nations Championship
	Fabien Pelous	2011–2015	2014 U20 Six Nations Championship – Grand Slam   2012 U20 Six Nations Championship   2015 U20 Six Nations Championship
	Thomas Lièvremont	2015–2017	2016 U20 Six Nations Championship   2017 U20 Six Nations Championship
—	Sébastien Piqueronies	2017–2019	2018 World Rugby U20 Championship   2019 World Rugby U20 Championship   2018 U20 Six Nations Championship   2019 U20 Six Nations Championship
—	Philippe Boher	2019–2021	2021 U20 Six Nations Championship
—	Jean-Marc Béderède	2021–2022	2022 U20 Six Nations Championship
—	Sébastien Calvet	2022–	2023 World Rugby U20 Championship   2023 U20 Six Nations Championship

Players

Current squad

On 28 January 2024, Calvet named a 26-player squad for the 2024 Six Nations Under 20s Championship first round against Ireland.^[4]

¹ Marko Gazzotti was ultimately retained by his club and then replaced by Maël Perrin.^[4]

Head coach:   Sébastien Calvet

• Caps updated: 14 July 2023

Player	Position	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Club/province
Robin Couly	Hooker	(2004-02-07) 7 February 2004 (age 20)	0	Clermont
Barnabé Massa	Hooker	(2004-05-13) 13 May 2004 (age 19)	4	Grenoble
Léo Ametlla	Prop	(2004-04-12) 12 April 2004 (age 19)	0	Toulon
Zinédine Aouad	Prop	(2005-05-03) 3 May 2005 (age 18)	0	Bordeaux Bègles
Adam Bouare	Prop	(2004-10-18) 18 October 2004 (age 19)	0	Montpellier
Thomas Duchêne	Prop	(2004-08-25) 25 August 2004 (age 19)	5	Clermont
Lino Julien	Prop	(2004-07-27) 27 July 2004 (age 19)	6	Racing 92
Antonin Corso	Lock	(2004-04-09) 9 April 2004 (age 20)	0	Oyonnax
Charly Gambini	Lock	(2004-01-15) 15 January 2004 (age 20)	2	Provence
Corentin Mézou	Lock	(2005-04-20) 20 April 2005 (age 18)	0	Toulon
Mathis Castro-Ferreira (c)	Back row	(2004-01-13) 13 January 2004 (age 20)	9	Toulouse
Marko Gazzotti^1	Back row	(2004-09-24) 24 September 2004 (age 19)	8	Bordeaux Bègles
Maël Perrin^1	Back row	(2004-06-02) 2 June 2004 (age 19)	0	Montpellier
Joé Quere-Karaba	Back row	(2004-09-28) 28 September 2004 (age 19)	0	Toulon Bègles
Patrick Tuifua	Back row	(2004-08-25) 25 August 2004 (age 19)	0	Hawke's Bay
Noa Zinzen (vc)	Back row	(2004-02-24) 24 February 2004 (age 20)	2	Racing 92
Léo Carbonneau (vc)	Scrum-half	(2004-10-07) 7 October 2004 (age 19)	9	Brive
Thomas Souverbie	Scrum-half	(2004-06-28) 28 June 2004 (age 19)	0	Pau
Axel Desperes	Fly-half	(2004-01-16) 16 January 2004 (age 20)	3	Pau
Tom Raffy	Fly-half	(2004-07-26) 26 July 2004 (age 19)	2	Brive
Maxence Biasotto	Centre	(2004-07-08) 8 July 2004 (age 19)	1	Brive
Noah Nene	Centre	(2004-10-14) 14 October 2004 (age 19)	0	Stade Français
Robin Taccola	Centre	(2005-05-04) 4 May 2005 (age 18)	0	Vannes
Grégoire Arfeuil	Wing	(2004-12-05) 5 December 2004 (age 19)	0	Pau
Hoani Bosmorin	Wing	(2004-12-27) 27 December 2004 (age 19)	0	La Rochelle
Mathis Ferté	Fullback	(2004-02-02) 2 February 2004 (age 20)	8	Brive
Xan Mousques	Fullback	(2005-11-18) 18 November 2005 (age 18)	0	Bayonne

Previous squads

2023 World Rugby Under 20 Championship squad

The following 30 players were called up for the 2023 World Rugby Under 20 Championship in South Africa.^[5] Hookers Pierre Jouvin – (Agen) Thomas Lacombre – (Toulouse) Barnabé Massa – (Grenoble) Props Zaccharie Affane – (Bordeaux Bègles) Thomas Duchêne – (Clermont) Lino Julien – (Racing 92) Alexandre Kaddouri – (La Rochelle) Louis Penverne – (La Rochelle) Locks Hugo Auradou – (Pau) Brent Liufau – (Pau) Posolo Tuilagi – (Perpignan) Loose forwards Esteban Capilla – (Bayonne) Mathis Castro-Ferreira – (Toulouse) Marko Gazzotti – (Grenoble) Oscar Jégou – (La Rochelle) Lenni Nouchi (c) – (Montpellier) Andy Timo – (Massy) Noa Zinzen – (Racing 92) Scrum-halves Léo Carbonneau – (Brive) Baptiste Jauneau – (Clermont) Fly-halves Clément Mondinat – (Pau) Hugo Reus – (La Rochelle) Centres Maxence Biasotto – (Brive) Paul Costes – (Toulouse) Nicolas Depoortère (vc) – (Bordeaux Bègles) Arthur Mathiron – (Lyon) Wings Léo Drouet – (Provence) Maël Moustin – (Bordeaux Bègles) Full-backs Théo Attisogbé – (Pau) Mathis Ferté – (Brive) (c) Denotes team captain (vc) Denotes team vice-captain

2019 World Rugby Under 20 Championship squad

The following 28 players were called up for the 2019 World Rugby Under 20 Championship in Argentina.^[6] Hookers Rayne Barka – (Pau) Théo Lachaud – (Toulon) Props Giorgi Beria – (Clermont) Axel Burin – (Agen) Eli Eglaine – (Grenoble) Jean-Baptiste Gros – (Toulon) Paul Mallez – (ABCD XV) Locks Killian Geraci – (Grenoble) Gauthier Maravat – (Agen) Florent Vanverberghe – (Toulon) Loose forwards Matthias Haddad – (La Rochelle) Thibaut Hamonou – (Toulouse) Mathieu Hirigoyen – (Biarritz) Loïc Hocquet – (Agen) Jordan Joseph – (Racing 92) Sacha Zegueur – (Oyonnax) Scrum-halves Léo Coly – (Mont-de-Marsan) Quentin Delord – (Lyon) Fly-halves Louis Carbonel – (Toulon) Centres Julien Delbouis – (Stade Français) Mathieu Smaïli – (Toulon) Arthur Vincent (c) – (Montpellier) Antoine Zeghdar – (Toulon) Wings Ethan Dumortier – (Lyon) Vincent Pinto – (Pau) Donovan Taofifénua – (Clermont) Full-backs Alexandre De Nardi – (Mont-de-Marsan) Matthis Lebel – (Toulouse) (c) Denotes team captain

2018 World Rugby Under 20 Championship squad

The following 30 players were called up for the 2018 World Rugby Under 20 Championship in France.^[7] Hookers Maxime Lamothe – (Bordeaux Bègles) Guillaume Marchand – (Toulouse) Props Demba Bamba – (Brive) Giorgi Beria – (Clermont) Ugo Boniface – (Bayonne) Daniel Brennan – (Toulouse) Jean-Baptiste Gros – (Toulon) Hassane Kolingar – (Racing 92) Locks Pierre-Henri Azagoh – (Massy) Killian Geraci – (Grenoble) Thomas Lavault – (La Rochelle) Alban Roussel – (Perpignan) Loose forwards Antonin Berruyer – (Grenoble) Ibrahim Diallo – (Racing 92) Charlie Francoz – (Stade Français) Jordan Joseph – (Racing 92) Cameron Woki – (Bordeaux Bègles) Sacha Zegueur – (Oyonnax) Scrum-halves Arthur Coville (c) – (Stade Français) Jules Gimbert – (Bordeaux Bègles) Fly-halves Louis Carbonel – (Toulon) Romain Ntamack – (Toulouse) Centres Pierre-Louis Barassi – (Lyon) Adrien Séguret – (Lyon) Arthur Vincent – (Montpellier) Wings Iban Etcheverry – (Bordeaux Bègles) Maxime Marty – (Toulouse) Lucas Tauzin – (Toulouse) Full-backs Clément Laporte – (Agen) Matthis Lebel – (Toulouse) (c) Denotes team captain

Award winners

The following France U20s players have been recognised at the World Rugby Awards since 2008:^[8]

World Rugby Junior Player of the Year

Year	Nominees	Winners
2018	Jordan Joseph	Jordan Joseph
	Romain Ntamack
2019	Louis Carbonel	—

Competitive record

World Rugby Under 20 Championship

Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA
2008	5th-8th place	6th	5	3	0	2	155	102
2009	5th-8th place	5th	5	4	0	1	202	100
2010	5th-8th place	5th	5	4	0	1	146	94
2011	Semi-final	4th	5	3	0	2	117	114
2012	5th-8th place	6th	5	3	0	2	102	89
2013	5th-8th place	5th	5	3	0	2	116	101
2014	5th-8th place	6th	5	3	0	2	105	83
2015	Semi-final	4th	5	3	0	2	121	111
2016	9th-12th place	9th	5	3	0	2	160	129
2017	Semi-final	4th	5	2	1	2	144	124
2018	Champions	1st	5	5	0	0	145	97
2019	Champions	1st	5	4	0	1	138	110
2020–2022	Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
2023	Champions	1st	5	5	0	0	255	90
2024
Total	13/13	3 Titles	65	45	1	19	1906	1344

Honours

• World Rugby U20 Championship
  • Winners (3): 2018, 2019, 2023
• U20 Six Nations Championship
  • Winners (3): 2009, 2014 – Grand Slam, 2018
  • Runners-up (9): 2011, 2012, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023
  • Third place (1): 2008

References

1. "Les Bleuets remportent le Tournoi" [The Bleuets won the Championship]. Rugbyrama (in French). 18 March 2018. Retrieved 15 July 2023.
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" [France U20 - The Bleuets on top of the world, France crowned three times in a row]. Rugbyrama (in French). Retrieved 15 July 2023.
3. "Jean-Marc Béderède : " Amener le maximum de joueurs vers le XV de France "" [Jean-Marc Béderède: "Drive as many players as possible to the XV de France] (in French). FFR. 15 July 2022. Retrieved 22 June 2023.
4. Baty, Pierre (28 January 2024). "Tournoi des Six Nations 2024 : La liste des 26 joueurs de France moins 20 ans pour l'Irlande" [2024 Six Nations Championship: France U20 26-player squad for Ireland] (in French). FFR. Retrieved 30 January 2024.
5. "Le groupe de France moins 20 ans pour le Championnat du monde" [France U20 squad for the World Cup] (in French). FFR. 1 June 2023. Retrieved 22 June 2023.
6. "France moins 20 ans : Le groupe pour le Championnat du monde" [France U20: The squad for the World Cup] (in French). FFR. 27 May 2019. Retrieved 22 June 2023.
7. "Champion du monde -20 : Une question de confiance !" [U20 World Champion: a matter of trust!] (in French). FFR. 5 October 2018. Retrieved 22 June 2023.
8. "Awards Roll of Honour - World Rugby". www.world.rugby. Retrieved 16 March 2024.