Rugby union in France
It included the national teams of Italy, France, Catalonia, Czechoslovakia, Romania and Germany.
The French rugby union was ousted from the Five Nations championship on charges of player violence and professionalism in 1932.
In 1934, Rugby league was introduced to France, half a century after the amateur code had established itself in the country.
[4] Also in 1934, FIRA (Federation of Amateur Rugby) was founded by Czechoslovakia, France, Germany, Holland, Italy, Portugal, Romania, Catalonia (Spain), and Sweden.
In 1939, France was re-invited to participate in the following year's Home Nations tournament, but the onset of the Second World War put all international rugby on hold.
The first post-war Five Nations championship took place in 1947, and was the first top-level rugby tournament France had played in since 1931.
After a low period in the mid-1990s caused by FFR's hesitation to join in the introduction of professional rugby in 1995, the national team has regained its top-tier status.
Rugby union is more popular in the South of France, whilst in the North of the country, association football can be viewed as the leading code.
There are 1,737 clubs in France and the number of licensed players has significantly increased over the recent years, reaching 390,000 in 2010 (up from 260,000 in 2000).
The second major competition in France is Rugby Pro D2, featuring 16 teams that also play a home-and-away regular season.
Promotion and relegation also exist between Pro D2 and Fédérale 1, the top level of the French amateur rugby system.
As the map below shows the vast majority of Top 14 and D2 clubs are located in the southern half of France.
For 2019–20, the only exceptions to this are: Long-term plans call for LNR to establish a third professional league below Pro D2 starting with the 2020–21 season.
The build-up to the establishment of this league will see a major LNR initiative to encourage the development of professional clubs in the country's north.
[10] The European Rugby Champions Cup is Europe's current top-level club competition, an annual affair involving leading club, regional and provincial teams from the Six Nations: England, France, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, and Italy.
The Heineken Cup was launched during the European summer of 1995 by the (then) Five Nations Committee, following the advent of professional rugby union.
The first four editions of the original Challenge Cup were all won by French sides—Bourgoin in 1997, Colomiers in 1998, Clermont (then known as Montferrand) in 1999, and Pau in 2000.
The European Shield, which ran from 2002–03 to 2004–05, was a repechage competition that involved first-round losers in the original Challenge Cup.
France, nicknamed Les Bleus (The Blues), is a top tier nation, as cited by World Rugby.
