France Women Lose 36-7 to Black Ferns to Conclude New Zealand Tour

France’s women’s rugby team concluded their tour of New Zealand with a 36-7 defeat against the Black Ferns at Te Kaha Stadium in Christchurch on Saturday, finishing the Women XV Global Series with three defeats in the country, ouest-france.fr reported.

Christchurch Test Closes Global Series Tour

The final match in Christchurch saw New Zealand score six tries, including a pair from winger Shyrah Tuliau-Tua’a in the 12th and 50th minutes. France managed a single try just before halftime through hooker Maylis Mailagi, making her first international start in the fixture. The result capped a difficult series of matches in New Zealand for the French squad, following an 81-12 defeat in Hamilton and a 31-12 loss in Whangarei over the preceding weeks.

Tactical Execution and Missed Opportunities

Despite creating several scoring chances, including an early effort by Assia Khalfaoui in the third minute and a late opportunity for winger Anaïs Grando at the 70-minute mark, the French team failed to capitalize. Ratier expressed frustration over his side’s inability to manage the tempo of the match. He noted that the squad frequently played backward and lacked the strategic control required at the international level, stating that the players struggled with the basic construction of a high-level test match. He added that the team could have won the match if they had known how to push the accelerator in the strong moments and put on the handbrake during tougher periods, pointing out that players still seemed to be discovering what a high-level match entails and suffered from an ongoing capacity to sabotage themselves through a lack of tactical and strategic leadership.

Squad Turnover and Youth Integration

The coaching staff fielded a young and inexperienced lineup on Saturday, featuring 11 players with fewer than five international caps. This included a newly formed centre partnership between Elodie Fernandez and Charlie Gauyat, both appearing in their third tests. Refusing to call it an encouraging defeat, Ratier nonetheless mentioned positive things, with certain players having shown their potential, even if others showed their limits. He remained confident that three years is sufficient to bring the French women’s XV back to the level of the top teams ahead of the 2029 World Cup in Australia, following a fourth-place finish at the 2025 World Cup in England, and warned that the gap could widen with the world podium if care is not taken.

Looking Ahead to the Six Nations

Following four defeats to New Zealand across the Global Series—including a 41-28 loss in Lyon last September—France holds a record that includes victories over Australia (29-26) in Aix-en-Provence and Canada (21-5) in La Rochelle. Les Bleues will resume preparations this winter for the upcoming Women’s Six Nations Championship, where they will face the number-one ranked English team whom they have not beaten since 2018. The global rugby context also noted that New Zealand’s Kaipo Olsen-Baker was named the 2026 player of the year.