{"id":328457,"date":"2025-08-08T17:45:18","date_gmt":"2025-08-08T17:45:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/328457\/"},"modified":"2025-08-08T17:45:18","modified_gmt":"2025-08-08T17:45:18","slug":"why-disorganisation-and-chaos-could-be-frances-biggest-ally-at-world-cup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/328457\/","title":{"rendered":"Why disorganisation and chaos could be France’s biggest ally at World Cup"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

After a summer of training, after the high-intensity camps at the FFR\u2019s Marcoussis headquarters and at altitude in Tignes; after multiple sessions on key areas with Top 14<\/a> and ProD2 specialists, England.<\/p>\n

Women\u2019s <\/a>Rugby World Cup<\/a> 2025 looms for France, as it does for the 15 other nations taking part. But first, for France<\/a>, England.<\/p>\n

Les Bleues\u2019<\/a> only warm-up match for the tournament, on Saturday 9th August, in Mont-de-Marsan, south-west France, is against the repeated Six Nations<\/a> Grand Slam winners, World Rugby\u2019s number one ranked team, a side unbeaten in 26 games since that epic Rugby World Cup<\/a> loss to New Zealand at Eden Park in November 2022.<\/p>\n

\"Video<\/p>\n

\u2018This Energy Never Stops\u2019 \u2013 Women\u2019s Rugby World Cup 2025<\/p>\n

\"Video\u2018This Energy Never Stops\u2019 \u2013 Women\u2019s Rugby World Cup 2025<\/p>\n

It\u2019s no exaggeration to suggest this is the toughest challenge France<\/a> could have set themselves before they head across the Channel for the tournament proper.<\/p>\n

Former France<\/a> second row L\u00e9na\u00efg Corson admitted she was taken aback at the choice of warm-up opponent: \u201cI don\u2019t think it\u2019s a great gift to play England,\u201d she said. \u201cWe\u2019re used to playing [warm-up games] against teams that aren\u2019t number one in the world.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s surprising to play a top-three nation right from the start. On the other hand, it\u2019s an opportunity to try things out.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Head-to-Head <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Last 5 Meetings<\/p>\n

Average Points scored<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

And France have plenty to try out as heatwave daytime temperatures start to dip in deepest Landes. They\u2019ve worked with Alexandre Ruiz on offensive breakdown play, with Jeremy Valls on tactical attacking kicking, with Laurent Thuery<\/a> on defensive exits.<\/p>\n

Saturday is the only time these modifications will get a public airing before their tournament opener against Italy on Saturday 23rd August.<\/p>\n

Corson, one of a dozen or so former internationals at Marcoussis the afternoon and evening before the 32-strong squad was announced, is impressed with what she has seen.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought the atmosphere was very good,\u201d said the 36-year-old. \u201cYou could tell that the girls were happy to be there. Preparing for a World Cup at an intense and, at the same time, collective moment. I thought it boded well for the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

Corson, along with a group of France legends \u2013 including Marjorie Mayans<\/a>, Coumba Diallo<\/a>, Marie-Alice Yah\u00e9, Estelle Sartini, Jessy Tr\u00e9mouli\u00e8re, Christelle Le Duff and Dani\u00e8le Irazu \u2013 watched a long training session with Ruiz.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was a lot of intensity. You can tell the team has trained hard. [Coach] Ga\u00ebl Mignot told us it might have been because we were there and that they wanted to do well in front of the former players!\u201d<\/p>\n

The change in choice of warm-up opponents is not the only one in the France set-up since Mignot and co-coach David Ortiz took charge of the squad in 2023, following the departure of Thomas Darracq after Les Bleues\u2019 third-place finish in New Zealand \u2013 a remarkable result at the end of a tournament that could most politely be described as \u2018troubled\u2019 for the French. Even more remarkably, they were a missed late kick away from the final.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been hard for the French team to rebuild after that World Cup,\u201d Corson said. \u201cIt was complicated \u2013 very, very complicated \u2013 with the staff. It\u2019s been very hard to regain confidence; it really left deep scars on the team.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor those who played in 2022, they experienced a World Cup<\/a> as something horrible, painful, even though France almost won the semi-final against New Zealand.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of older players left. We\u2019re still rebuilding, but there\u2019s a lot of experience there \u2013 Pauline Bourdon<\/a> Sansus, Marine M\u00e9nager, Agathe Gu\u00e9rin \u2013 a few players who have been there for a few years.<\/p>\n

\u201cCompared to England, where Emily Scarratt<\/a> is going to play in her fifth World Cup, and Marlie Packer<\/a>, who\u2019s playing in her fourth, we don\u2019t have that. I think the only [French] player is Anna\u00eblle Deshaye, who\u2019s going to play in her third World Cup \u2013 she was there in 2017 and 2022. There\u2019ll be Carla Neisen<\/a>, too, who played in 2017.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut we don\u2019t have many experienced players. That\u2019s a shame in a way, but that\u2019s how it is \u2013 a result of 2022, and we have to deal with it.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously, it\u2019s better to have a mix of experience and young players. Right now, we have a lot less experience, but we have a lot of youth, energy and enthusiasm. And that will be our biggest asset.\u201d<\/p>\n

France are fourth in the world, behind England, reigning champions New Zealand, and Canada. They are one of the pre-tournament favourites, and Corson believes they have it in them to go deep into the competition.<\/p>\n

She acknowledged there are bigger, stronger and more organised teams, but insisted that France\u2019s strength lies in disorganisation. \u201cFrance are unpredictable \u2013 we don\u2019t really know how we\u2019re going to play because I think we have that \u2018French flair\u2019, that unstructured style of play, and we\u2019re comfortable with that.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s easy for France to play when the game\u2019s unstructured, it\u2019s chaos. And out of that big mess, we can play. I think that\u2019s one of our strengths because we\u2019re not necessarily the most structured team with a fluid attacking game. It\u2019s not as set, calculated or pragmatic like England \u2013 players have to adapt individually.\u201d<\/p>\n

After Les Bleues<\/a> open their account against Six Nations<\/a> rivals Italy in Exeter, they then face Brazil and South Africa in their quest for a quarter-final place. Corson warned against pool-phase complacency.<\/p>\n

Fixture<\/p>\n

Women’s Rugby World Cup<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

France Women <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Italy Women <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Italians don\u2019t like us very much,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s a rivalry, like England and France. For them, it\u2019s a really important game. If they can beat France and get into the competition, they\u2019ll be so happy.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the Six Nations<\/a>, [the Italy game] was very complicated, and I was afraid France would lose. We had trouble getting our game going, we let them believe they could come back too many times, too often, for too long. They could make things very difficult.\u201d<\/p>\n

France\u2019s second opponents Brazil, Corson said, were an unknown quantity at the 15-player game, but she warned that France should not take final pool phase opponents Springbok Women for granted. \u201cI was surprised and impressed by the intensity that South Africa brought to their [World Cup warm-up] game [against New Zealand XV].<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s going to be a big, physical challenge. They\u2019re tougher than the English in contact. They\u2019re very muscular, really aggressive. The French women are built differently, smaller and faster. I think we could lose energy in a big, physical match.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut France could spring a surprise. They are on a team that looks very strong and is creating some great moments. The atmosphere with the team and the staff has also improved a lot in recent months.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe needed to regain confidence in the group and in the staff, and I think all the preparation has helped. A lot of time off the field has also been put to good use. They spent a night under the stars in tents in the mountains in Tignes.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere were times when they played games together to create memories outside of competition, off the field. Those moments are crucial to going all the way.\u201d<\/p>\n

France\u2019s coaches have carefully and repeatedly pitched Les Bleues as \u2018outsiders\u2019 to lift the new Women\u2019s Rugby World Cup<\/a> trophy at the end of September. Corson may agree they have a strong chance of being involved at the business end of the tournament, but insists there\u2019s plenty of rugby to play between now and then.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe level is getting higher and higher, and you can feel that England and New Zealand, and maybe even Canada really stand out. England, I\u2019m impressed by their consistency and by the level of experience in the team.<\/p>\n

New Zealand, I\u2019m impressed by their speed and power. I think they\u2019re really impressive in that regard and also in terms of individual skills. I think those two nations really stand out.<\/p>\n

And I was very impressed by Canada during the World Cup<\/a> and WXV, and I think they could really surprise us this summer. I said a few months ago, \u2018Canada will definitely finish on the podium, and I even think they could make it to the final\u2019. I think they can do something.\u201d<\/p>\n

See which France, England, New Zealand, and Canada players made it into RugbyPass\u2019 Top 50<\/a> list. View list here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After a summer of training, after the high-intensity camps at the FFR\u2019s Marcoussis headquarters and at altitude in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":328458,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5309],"tags":[2000,299,36],"class_list":{"0":"post-328457","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-france","8":"tag-eu","9":"tag-europe","10":"tag-france"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114994395526412965","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/328457","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=328457"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/328457\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/328458"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=328457"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=328457"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=328457"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}