The national rugby union team of France

France national rugby union team

The France national rugby union team represents France in rugby union. They compete annually against England, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales in the Six Nations Championship. They have won the championship outright sixteen times, shared it a further eight times, and have completed nine grand slams...

 first toured Argentina

Argentina national rugby union team

The Argentina national rugby team, nicknamed Los Pumas, represents Argentina in international rugby union matches. The team, which plays in sky blue and white jerseys, is organised by the Argentine Rugby Union .Argentina played its first international rugby match in 1910 against a touring British...

 in 1949, winning a two-test series. These games were Argentina's debut as a Test-playing nation. Argentina did not manage a win until their 16th meeting in 1985, under the captaincy of Hugo Porta

Hugo Porta

Hugo Porta is a former Argentine Rugby Union footballer, an inductee of both the International Rugby Hall of Fame and IRB Hall of Fame, and one of the best fly-halves the sport has seen...

.

France has been Argentina's most frequent Test match opponent. France played a significant role in the early development of Argentina as a rugby nation, with France vs Argentina fixtures accounting for 15 out of Argentina's first 18 Test matches (up to 1977). In total the two countries have met 44 times, with France winning 32 games, Argentina 11 and one game drawn.

The teams have played each other three times at Rugby World Cup

Rugby World Cup

The Rugby World Cup is an international rugby union competition organised by the International Rugby Board and held every four years since 1987....

 tournaments: In 1999

1999 Rugby World Cup

The 1999 Rugby World Cup was the fourth Rugby World Cup, and the first to be held in rugby union's professional era. The principal host nation was Wales, although the majority of matches were played outside the country, shared between England, France, Scotland and Ireland...

 France won a quarter-final, and in 2007

2007 Rugby World Cup

The 2007 Rugby World Cup was the sixth Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. Twenty nations competed for the Webb Ellis Cup in the tournament, which was hosted by France from 7 September to 20 October. France won the hosting rights in 2003,...

 Argentina beat France 17-12 in the tournament-opening pool game and again 34-10 in the playoff for third and fourth place after Argentina had lost to tournament winners South Africa in the semi-final. Even though Argentina had shown strong form in the year leading up to the tournament (winning 10 of 13 Test matches plus a one-point loss to France), the opening-game win was regarded as an upset by the media.

Summary

Details	Played	Won by Argentina	Won by France	Drawn	Argentina points	France points
In Argentina	28	7	20	1	402	665
In France	15	4	11	0	253	336
Neutral venue	1	0	1	0	26	47
Overall	44	11	32	1	681	1048

Argentina have a slightly better record playing away (27% win rate and average differential of -7 points) than at home (25% win rate and -9 point average differential). Since 2000, the series has been especially closely fought, though Argentina have had the upper hand. In the teams' last 10 matches, the Pumas are 7–3, but seven of the matches (including all three Pumas losses) were decided by a converted try (7 points) or less; only the third-place match in the 2007 World Cup and their June 2010 Test were decided by more than 10 points.

When the IRB

International Rugby Board

The International Rugby Board is the governing body for the sport of rugby union. It was founded in 1886 as the International Rugby Football Board by the unions of Scotland, Wales and Ireland. England refused to join until 1890. The International Rugby Football Board changed its name to the...

 introduced their world team rankings system in 2003, Argentina were ranked 7th and France 5th. , Argentina climbed to fourth place and France fell to seventh. In the latest rankings, released after France's close win in their November Test

2010 end of year rugby tests

The 2010 end of year rugby tests, also known as the Autumn internationals in the northern hemisphere, will see Argentina, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa and tour the northern hemisphere. Test matches will also be arranged involving the various Pacific island teams and other non-Tier 1...

, France are fifth and Argentina eighth.

Results

Date	Venue	Score	Victor	Comments
20 November 2010	Stade de la Mosson Stade de la Mosson Stade de la Mosson is a football stadium in Montpellier, France. It is the home of Montpellier HSC and has a capacity of 32,900. Formerly a 16,000-seater stadium, it was entirely rebuilt in 1998 to host 6 games of the 1998 FIFA World Cup. It was also used as a venue for group stage matches in the... , Montpellier Montpellier -Neighbourhoods:Since 2001, Montpellier has been divided into seven official neighbourhoods, themselves divided into sub-neighbourhoods. Each of them possesses a neighbourhood council....	15 – 9
26 June 2010	Estadio José Amalfitani Estadio José Amalfitani The Estadio José Amalfitani is a stadium located in the Liniers neighbourhood of Buenos Aires, Argentina. The venue is mainly used for football matches and is the home of the Argentine Primera División club Vélez Sársfield. The stadium is nicknamed El Fortín or El Fortín de Liniers... , Buenos Aires Buenos Aires Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...	41 – 13
8 November 2008	Stade Vélodrome Stade Vélodrome The Stade Vélodrome is a football stadium in Marseille, France. It is home to the Olympique de Marseille football club of Ligue 1, and was a venue in the 1998 FIFA World Cup and the 2007 Rugby World Cup. It is the largest club-football ground in France, with a capacity of 60,031 spectators,... , Marseille Marseille Marseille , known in antiquity as Massalia , is the second largest city in France, after Paris, with a population of 852,395 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Marseille extends beyond the city limits with a population of over 1,420,000 on an area of...	12 – 6
19 October 2007	Parc des Princes Parc des Princes The Parc des Princes is an all-seater football stadium located in the southwest of Paris, France. The venue, with a seating capacity of 48,712 spectators, has been the home of French football club Paris Saint-Germain since 1974. The current Parc des Princes was inaugurated on 4 June 1972, endowed... , Paris Paris Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...	10 – 34		2007 Rugby World Cup third-place match
7 September 2007	Stade de France Stade de France The Stade de France is the national stadium of France, situated just north of Paris in the commune of Saint-Denis. It has an all-seater capacity of 80,000, making it the fifth largest stadium in Europe, and is used by both the France national football team and French rugby union team for... , Saint-Denis Saint-Denis Saint-Denis is a commune in the northern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. Saint-Denis is a sous-préfecture of the Seine-Saint-Denis département, being the seat of the Arrondissement of Saint-Denis....	12 – 17		2007 Rugby World Cup
25 November 2006	Stade de France, Saint-Denis	27 – 26
20 November 2004	Stade Vélodrome, Marseille	14 – 24
20 June 2003	Estadio José Amalfitani, Buenos Aires	33 – 32
14 June 2003	Estadio José Amalfitani, Buenos Aires	10 – 6
15 June 2002	Estadio José Amalfitani, Buenos Aires	28 – 27
24 October 1999	Lansdowne Road Lansdowne Road Lansdowne Road was a stadium in Dublin owned by the Irish Rugby Football Union that has been the location of a number of sports stadiums. It was used primarily for rugby union and for association football matches as well as some music concerts... , Dublin	26 – 47		1999 Rugby World Cup 1999 Rugby World Cup The 1999 Rugby World Cup was the fourth Rugby World Cup, and the first to be held in rugby union's professional era. The principal host nation was Wales, although the majority of matches were played outside the country, shared between England, France, Scotland and Ireland...
14 November 1998	Stade de la Beaujoire Stade de la Beaujoire The Stade de la Beaujoire - Louis Fonteneau, or "Stade de la Beaujoire", is a stadium in Nantes, France. It is the home of the FC Nantes football club.... , Nantes Nantes Nantes is a city in western France, located on the Loire River, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the 6th largest in France, while its metropolitan area ranks 8th with over 800,000 inhabitants....	34 – 14
20 June 1998	Estadio José Amalfitani, Buenos Aires	12 – 37
13 June 1998	Estadio José Amalfitani, Buenos Aires	18 – 35
26 October 1997	Stade Maurice Trélut Stade Maurice Trélut Stade Maurice Trélut is part of the Tarbes sports complex in Tarbes, France. It comprises a main stadium with a capacity of 16,400 of which 12,000 places are seated. The main stadium is mostly used by the Tarbes french Rugby Union team, Tarbes Pyrénées Rugby who play in the French ProD2 league... , Tarbes Tarbes Tarbes is a commune in the Hautes-Pyrénées department in south-western France.It is part of the historical region of Gascony. It is the second largest metropolitan area of Midi-Pyrénées, with 110,000 inhabitants....	32 – 27
29 June 1996	Estadio Ricardo Etcheverry Estadio Ricardo Etcheverry Estadio Arquitecto Ricardo Etcheverry is a multi-purpose stadium in Buenos Aires, Argentina, located close to the Puan station on Line A of the Metro. It is currently used mostly for football matches, by Ferro Carril Oeste. The stadium has a capacity of 24,442 people... , Buenos Aires	15 – 34
22 June 1996	Estadio Ricardo Etcheverry, Buenos Aires	27 – 34
21 October 1995	Estadio Ricardo Etcheverry, Buenos Aires	12 – 47
14 November 1992	Stade de la Beaujoire, Nantes	20 – 24
11 July 1992	Estadio José Amalfitani, Buenos Aires	9 – 33
4 July 1992	Estadio José Amalfitani, Buenos Aires	12 – 27
11 November 1988	Stadium Lille-Metropole Stadium Lille-Metropole Stade Lille-Metropole is a multi-purpose stadium in Villeneuve-d'Ascq, France. The stadium was built in 1976 and is able to hold 18,154. The architect for the stadium was Roger Taillibert.... , Lille Lille Lille is a city in northern France . It is the principal city of the Lille Métropole, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the country behind those of Paris, Lyon and Marseille. Lille is situated on the Deûle River, near France's border with Belgium...	28 – 18
5 November 1988	Stade de la Beaujoire, Nantes Nantes Nantes is a city in western France, located on the Loire River, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the 6th largest in France, while its metropolitan area ranks 8th with over 800,000 inhabitants....	29 – 9
25 June 1988	Estadio José Amalfitani, Buenos Aires	18 – 6
18 June 1988	Estadio José Amalfitani, Buenos Aires	15 – 18
7 June 1986	Estadio José Amalfitani, Buenos Aires	9 – 22
31 May 1986	Estadio José Amalfitani, Buenos Aires	15 – 13
29 June 1985	Estadio Ricardo Etcheverry, Buenos Aires	15 – 23
22 June 1985	Estadio Ricardo Etcheverry, Buenos Aires	24 – 16
20 November 1982	Parc des Princes, Paris	13 – 6
14 November 1982	Stadium Municipal, Toulouse Toulouse Toulouse is a city in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern FranceIt lies on the banks of the River Garonne, 590 km away from Paris and half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea...	25 – 12
2 July 1977	Estadio Ricardo Etcheverry, Buenos Aires	18 – 18	draw
25 June 1977	Estadio Ricardo Etcheverry, Buenos Aires	3 – 26
25 October 1975	Parc des Princes, Paris	36 – 21
19 October 1975	Stade de Gerland, Lyon	29 – 6
29 June 1974	Estadio Ricardo Etcheverry, Buenos Aires	27 – 31
20 June 1974	Estadio Ricardo Etcheverry, Buenos Aires	15 – 20
17 August 1960	Estadio Ricardo Etcheverry, Buenos Aires	6 – 29
6 August 1960	Estadio Ricardo Etcheverry, Buenos Aires	3 – 12
23 July 1960	Estadio Ricardo Etcheverry, Buenos Aires	3 – 37
12 September 1954	Estadio Ricardo Etcheverry, Buenos Aires	3 – 30
29 August 1954	Estadio Ricardo Etcheverry, Buenos Aires	8 – 22
4 September 1949	Estadio G.E.B.A. Estadio G.E.B.A. Estadio G.E.B.A. was a multi-use stadium in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It was the home ground of Gimnasia y Esgrima de Buenos Aires. The stadium held 18,000 spectators... , Buenos Aires	3 – 12
28 August 1949	Estadio G.E.B.A., Buenos Aires	0 – 5