Jean-Claude Skrela founded the club after he had played for, and adored, the original Barbarians in the later days of his career.

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.

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.

Coaches: Christian Labit and Kevin Gourdon Note: Bold denotes players that have represented the French Barbarians in previous matches.