Rugby union in France is a popular team sport. Rugby union was first introduced in the early 1870s by British residents, which makes the country one of the few early exponents of the sport. Elite French clubs participate in the professional domestic club league, the Top 14. Clubs also compete in the European knock-out competition, the European Rugby Champions Cup, which replaced the Heineken Cup from 2014 to 2015.
Romania versus France at the Inter-Allied Games of 1919
A Stade Français match at Parc des Princes.
France's National Rugby Centre located in Marcoussis.
Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union or more often just rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in England in the first half of the 19th century. Rugby is simply based on running with the ball in hand. In its most common form, a game is played between two teams of 15 players each, using an oval-shaped ball on a rectangular field called a pitch. The field has H-shaped goalposts at both ends.
South African Victor Matfield takes a line-out against New Zealand in 2006.
Rugby School in Rugby, Warwickshire, with a rugby football pitch in the foreground
James Ryan, captain of the New Zealand Army team, receiving the Kings Cup from George V
Sébastien Chabal (far left) in number eight position before entering the scrum