JAMES HARRINGTON
FRENCH COLUMN
France have had a quietly dramatic week in the lead-up to the Women’s Six Nations, which kicks off for Les Bleues in Italy next weekend.
But, after simmering tensions in the camp during the Covid-delayed World Cup in New Zealand last autumn – there were reports of a serious split between players and management – ended with the departure of coach Thomas Darracq in December “for family reasons”, these latest dramas were of a much more manageable kind as France launch their next cycle with big ambitions.
First, Jessy Trémoulière – one of the finest players ever to put boot to oval ball or skim past defenders with disconcertingly deceptive and languid ease – announced that, at the age of 30, she will retire from the international game at the end of this year’s tournament.
After a World Cup in which her talents were scarcely used, which prompted a rare public outburst in the weeks after France’s thirdplace finish, it would be easy to imagine that Trémoulière had fallen out of love with the game. But the reason is more straightforward than that – work comes first. Specifically, the family business.
Trémoulière runs an organic dairy farm, with her father and brother – something she described as her ‘first passion’ in an interview with Midi Olympique. But, she added, she can no longer combine the physical and mental demands of the farm and international rugby.
“My father is coming up to 68,” she said, “and he can no longer take over when I am away for a long time with France. Four days, a week or two is fine, but now I’m going to leave for three weeks with Les Bleues and that’s a lot.
“We tried to take on an apprentice but it didn’t work out. Since December, I have invested more time on the farm and rugby must take a back seat.
“I have done my time at the international level…and I need to be at the farm. Without that, I might have been able to play on for a few more years…and I might have been in better physical shape because agricultural work is exhausting.”
Trémoulière will not give up the game entirely. She has told her club – Elite 1 side ASM Romagnat – that she will be available for at least one more season. “But my international career is no longer compatible with my work on the farm,” she said.
She said that she wants to “let go, have fun, and take full advantage of my last tournament”.
“I want to leave without regrets, and bring all my experience to this group. I will give everything to the younger squad members so they can … go as far as possible to the next deadline, the 2025 World Cup.”
France will miss her experience after this year’s tournament. They head into it without the nous and skills of Laure Sansus, Safi N’Diaye, Céline Ferer and Marjorie Mayans, who all retired after the World Cup.
After Trémoulière’s announcement – which was something of a surprise at the start of this week – France’s new coaching partnership of Gaëlle Mignot and David Ortiz finally confirmed, a couple of days before the tournament’s media launch in London, their captain.
It will be experienced second row Audrey Forlani – aplayer who did not make Les Bleues’ World Cup squad last autumn, despite her 57 caps and 12 years of international experience.
Forlani, 31, who has been captain of Elite 1 Pool Two leaders Blagnac for the past four seasons, admitted that the news had come as a surprise, after she had been told she was surplus to requirements for the Covid-delayed tournament in New Zealand.
“I was very disappointed not to be there [in New Zealand], but it’s behind me,” Forlani told journalists in London, adding: “I kept working to get back to my best and now it’s been rewarded.”
Her appointment is being touted in the French press as another indication that the new staff want to turn the page on the difficult Darracq days, after former skipper, back row Gaëlle Hermet was told in January that she would be captain no longer.
But Forlani insisted that she will be able to lean on Hermet for support. “There is no ambiguity between her and me. I know that she will help me and that together we will move this team forward.” And, then, news broke that 54-cap back row Romane Ménager has had to withdraw from the 36-player extended squad with an unspecified injury. Ortiz and Mignot named Grenoble Amazones’ uncapped Téani Feleu as a replacement.
Ménager was the first confirmed withdrawal from the France squad, preparing for their opening match against Italy next Sunday. Ortiz and Mignot were already unable to call on second row Madoussou Fall, who picked up an injury playing for her club Stade Bordelais on February 25 and is expected to miss the entire tournament.
So France head into this year’s Women’s Six Nations missing a host of experience. But the coaches – who met up with their players in Capbreton in February – have a clear plan. And a goal.
“The objective of this tournament will be to lay the foundations of our game plan and to collectively increase in power over the matches,” Mignot said recently. “We will have to be in the best possible condition when approaching the last match against England at Twickenham.”
And the goal? Win the World Cup in 2025. That’s ambitious for a side that has never reached a final before. It’s safe to say, then, France’s future starts here.
