# French Barbarians

The Barbarian Rugby Club, more commonly known as the French Barbarians, is a rugby union team formed in 1979 and based in France. It was founded as an amateur invitational team modeled on the Barbarian F.C.
From the start of the 2017–18 season, the French Barbarians became the official second national team of the French Rugby Federation, which had previously designated either the France U20 side or France A as that team. This decision was reversed in 2019, to allow for the creation of a new second national team as a development side (above the Under 20s team but below the first men's team).
The French Barbarians play in sky, navy and royal blue hooped jerseys. As with the original Barbarians, players retain the socks from their "home" club strip.

## History

Jean-Claude Skrela founded the club after he had played for, and adored, the original Barbarians in the later days of his career. Through the amateur era, all players chosen for the side were either French or played for French clubs.
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. For the game, held in Biarritz, the coaches were Jacques Delmas (Biarritz), Patrice Lagisquet (Biarritz) and were captained by Thomas Lièvremont. While in 2008 they beat Canada in Victoria. 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. And in late 2017 they beat the Māori All Blacks 19–15, which was the first time playing that side.

## Matches against international sides

| Date | Venue | Opposing Teams | For | Against | Result |
| 1 May 1980 | Stade Armandie, Agen | Scotland | 26 | 22 | Won |
| 7 November 1981 | Stade Jean Dauger, Bayonne | New Zealand | 18 | 28 | Lost |
| 11 November 1982 | Stade Maurice Boyau, Dax | Argentina | 8 | 22 | Lost |
| 23 November 1983 | Stade Mayol, Toulon | Australia | 21 | 23 | Lost |
| 22 October 1985 | Stade Jean-Martinaud, Cognac | Japan | 45 | 4 | Won |
| 10 May 1986 | Stade Armandie, Agen | Scotland | 32 | 19 | Won |
| 11 November 1986 | Stade Marcel-Deflandre, La Rochelle | New Zealand | 12 | 26 | Lost |
| 22 May 1988 | Stade Marcel-Deflandre, La Rochelle | Ireland | 41 | 26 | Won |
| 22 October 1989 | Stade Chaban-Delmas, Bordeaux | Fiji | 16 | 32 | Lost |
| 27 October 1990 | Stade Armandie, Agen | New Zealand | 13 | 23 | Lost |
| 31 October 1992 | Stadium Lille Métropole, Villeneuve-d'Ascq | South Africa | 25 | 20 | Won |
| 11 November 1993 | Stade Marcel-Michelin, Clermont-Ferrand | Australia | 26 | 43 | Lost |
| 1 November 1995 | Stade Mayol, Toulon | New Zealand | 19 | 34 | Lost |
| 23 November 1996 | Stade Amédée-Domenech, Brive | South Africa | 30 | 22 | Won |
| 11 November 1997 | Parc des Sports Aguiléra, Biarritz | South Africa | 40 | 22 | Won |
| 11 November 1998 | Stade Pierre Rajon, Bourgoin-Jallieu | Argentina | 38 | 30 | Won |
| 27 May 2000 | Millennium Stadium, Cardiff | Wales | 33 | 40 | Lost |
| 7 November 2000 | Stade Félix-Bollaert, Lens | New Zealand | 23 | 21 | Won |
| 18 November 2001 | Stade Mayol, Toulon | Fiji | 15 | 17 | Lost |
| 20 September 2003 | Parc des Sports et de l'Amitié, Narbonne | XV du Président | 12 | 83 | Lost |
| 3 March 2007 | Parc des Sports Aguiléra, Biarritz | Argentina | 14 | 28 | Lost |
| 28 June 2008 | Esquimalt's Bullen Park, Victoria | Canada | 17 | 7 | Won |
| 20 June 2009 | José Amalfitani Stadium, Buenos Aires | Argentina | 18 | 32 | Lost |
| 26 November 2010 | Stade des Alpes, Grenoble | Tonga | 27 | 28 | Lost |
| 4 June 2011 | Independiente Stadium, Avellaneda | Argentina | 19 | 23 | Lost |
| 11 June 2011 | Estadio Centenario, Resistencia | Argentina | 21 | 18 | Won |
| 20 June 2012 | Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium, Tokyo | Japan | 40 | 21 | Won |
| 24 June 2012 | Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium, Tokyo | Japan | 51 | 18 | Won |
| 25 November 2012 | Stade Océane, Le Havre | Japan | 64 | 41 | Won |
| 16 November 2013 | Stade Marcel-Michelin, Clermont-Ferrand | Samoa | 20 | 19 | Won |
| 14 November 2014 | Stade Mayol, Toulon | Namibia | 35 | 14 | Won |
| 20 June 2015 | Old Resian Club, Rosario | Argentina | 28 | 22 | Won |
| 26 June 2015 | La Plata Rugby Club, La Plata | Argentina | 9 | 21 | Lost |
| 24 November 2016 | Stade Chaban-Delmas, Bordeaux | Wallaby XV | 19 | 11 | Won |
| 10 November 2017 | Stade Chaban-Delmas, Bordeaux | Māori All Blacks | 19 | 15 | Won |
| 31 May 2018 | Dinamo Arena, Tbilisi | Georgia | 15 | 16 | Lost |
| 10 November 2018 | Stade Chaban Delmas, Bordeaux | Tonga | 38 | 49 | Lost |
| 13 November 2021 | Stade de Gerland, Lyon | Tonga | 42 | 17 | Won |
| 1 July 2022 | Aveva Stadium, Houston | United States | 21 | 26 | Lost |

### Overall

| Against | Played | Won | Lost | Drawn | Win % |
| Argentina | 8 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 37.5% |
| Australia | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0% |
| Australia XV | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100% |
| Canada | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100% |
| Fiji | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0% |
| XV du Président | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0% |
| Georgia | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0% |
| Ireland | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100% |
| Japan | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 100% |
| Namibia | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100% |
| New Zealand | 5 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 20% |
| Māori All Blacks | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100% |
| Samoa | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100% |
| Scotland | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 100% |
| South Africa | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 100% |
| Tonga | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 33% |
| United States | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0% |
| Wales | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0% |
| Total | 38 | 20 | 18 | 0 | 52.63% |

## Current squad

French Barbarians squad to face the United States on 1 July 2022.
Coaches: Christian Labit and Kevin Gourdon
Note: Bold denotes players that have represented the French Barbarians in previous matches. Italics represents uncapped players. Note: Flags indicate national union under World Rugby eligibility rules.
| Player | Position | Date of birth (age) | Club/province | Union |
| Clément Maynadier | Hooker | (1988-10-11) 11 October 1988 (age 36) | Bordeaux Bègles | France |
| Adrien Pélissié | Hooker | (1990-08-07) 7 August 1990 (age 34) | Clermont Auvergne | France |
| Nicolas Corato | Prop | (1997-10-07) 7 October 1997 (age 27) | Pau | France |
| Arthur Joly | Prop | (1988-02-20) 20 February 1988 (age 36) | Perpignan | France |
| Jefferson Poirot | Prop | (1992-01-11) 11 January 1992 (age 32) | Bordeaux Bègles | France |
| Sébastien Taofifénua | Prop | (1992-03-21) 21 March 1992 (age 32) | Lyon | France |
| Alexandre Roumat | Lock | (1997-06-27) 27 June 1997 (age 27) | Bordeaux Bègles | France |
| Romain Sazy | Lock | (1986-10-14) 14 October 1986 (age 38) | La Rochelle | France |
| Esteban Abadie | Back row | (1997-12-01) 1 December 1997 (age 27) | Brive | France |
| Anthime Hemery | Back row | (2001-01-09) 9 January 2001 (age 23) | Racing 92 | France |
| Louis Picamoles | Back row | (1985-02-05) 5 February 1985 (age 39) | Bordeaux Bègles | France |
| William Wavrin | Back row | (1991-01-06) 6 January 1991 (age 33) | Stade Montois | France |
| Thomas Berjon | Scrum-half | (1998-04-12) 12 April 1998 (age 26) | La Rochelle | France |
| Samuel Marques | Scrum-half | (1988-12-08) 8 December 1988 (age 35) | Carcassonne | Portugal |
| Louis Foursans | Fly-half | (2002-01-29) 29 January 2002 (age 22) | Montpellier | France |
| François Trinh-Duc | Fly-half | (1986-11-11) 11 November 1986 (age 38) | Bordeaux Bègles | France |
| Raphaël Lagarde | Fly-half | (1988-10-30) 30 October 1988 (age 36) | Agen | France |
| Pierre Aguillon | Centre | (1987-03-27) 27 March 1987 (age 37) | Castres | France |
| Jean-Baptiste Dubié | Centre | (1989-07-16) 16 July 1989 (age 35) | Bordeaux Bègles | France |
| Adrien Lapègue | Wing | (1998-10-21) 21 October 1998 (age 26) | Stade Français | France |
| Mathieu Acebes | Fullback | (1987-08-01) 1 August 1987 (age 37) | Perpignan | France |
| Nans Ducuing | Fullback | (1991-11-06) 6 November 1991 (age 33) | Bordeaux Bègles | France |

## Former players

* Malik Hamadache
* Miguel Avramovic
* Lucas Borges
* Mauricio Reggiardo
* Alberto Vernet Basualdo
* David Campese
* John Eales
* Nick Farr-Jones
* James O'Connor
* George Smith
* Robins Tchale-Watchou
* Mike James
* Silvère Tian
* Richard Pool-Jones
* Peter Winterbottom
* Rupeni Caucaunibuca
* Waisale Serevi
* Marika Vunibaka
* Louis Armary
* David Aucagne
* Teddy Baubigny
* Alexi Balès
* Pierre-Louis Barassi
* Abdelatif Benazzi
* Philippe Benetton
* Pierre Berbizier
* Philippe Bernat-Salles
* Serge Betsen
* Serge Blanco
* Éric Bonneval
* Olivier Brouzet
* Nicolas Brusque
* Laurent Cabannes
* Jean-Marie Cadieu
* Didier Camberabero
* Louis Carbonel
* Alain Carminati
* Thomas Castaignède
* Richard Castel
* Marc Cécillon
* Denis Charvet
* Gérard Cholley
* Vincent Clerc
* Didier Codorniou
* Franck Comba
* Jean Condom
* Jean-Jacques Crenca
* Dylan Cretin
* Marc Dal Maso
* Marc de Rougemont
* Christophe Deylaud
* Philippe Dintrans
* Christophe Dominici
* Yves Donguy
* Pierre Dospital
* Michel Droitecourt
* Daniel Dubroca
* Jean-Baptiste Élissalde
* Jean-Pierre Élissalde
* Dominique Erbani
* Jérôme Fillol
* Jacques Fouroux
* Fabien Galthié
* Xavier Garbajosa
* Jean-Pierre Garuet-Lempirou
* Stéphane Glas
* Arthur Gomes
* Jean-Michel Gonzalez
* Antoine Guillamon
* Francis Haget
* Dominique Harize
* Cédric Heymans
* Aubin Hueber
* Jean-François Imbernon
* Jean-Luc Joinel
* Jordan Joseph
* Jean-Baptiste Lafond
* Patrice Lagisquet
* Guy Laporte
* Christophe Laussucq
* Jean-Patrick Lescarboura
* Marc Lièvremont
* Thomas Lièvremont
* Sylvain Marconnet
* Jimmy Marlu
* Tony Marsh
* Rémy Martin
* Olivier Merle
* Franck Mesnel
* Frédéric Michalak
* Vincent Moscato
* Émile Ntamack
* Romain Ntamack
* Pascal Ondarts
* Alain Paco
* Michel Palmié
* Boris Palu
* Robert Paparemborde
* Laurent Pardo
* Adrien Pélissié
* Fabien Pelous
* Jean-Baptiste Poux
* Thibaut Privat
* Pierre Rabadan
* Swan Rebbadj
* Arthur Retière
* Jean-Pierre Rives
* Laurent Rodriguez
* Jean-Pierre Romeu
* Aurélien Rougerie
* Olivier Roumat
* Philippe Saint-André
* Jean-Luc Sadourny
* Philippe Sella
* David Skrela
* Jean-Claude Skrela
* Cédric Soulette
* Jérôme Thion
* Jean-François Tordo
* Diego Domínguez
* Hugo MacNeill
* Fergus Slattery
* Ian Jones
* Josh Kronfeld
* Simon Mannix
* Chris Masoe
* David Smith
* Grzegorz Kacała
* Naas Botha
* Brett Gosper
* Andre Joubert
* Filipo Toala

## Honours

* Melrose Sevens
** Champions (1): 1983