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History of rugby union matches between Argentina and France

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France's national rugby union team first played Argentina in 1949 when they undertook a two-test tour of the latter country. France won both matches.[1] Argentina did not manage a win over France until their 16th meeting in 1985, under the captaincy of Hugo Porta.[1]

France has been Argentina's most frequent Test match opponent. France played a significant role in the early development of Argentine rugby in which the two countries played each other 13 times between 1949 and 1977. In total, the two countries have met fifty-five times, with France having won in thirty-nine encounters to Argentina's fifteen.

The teams have played each other four times at Rugby World Cup tournaments: In 1999 France won a quarter-final, and in 2007 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.[2][3] They then played each other during the 2019, with this time France winning 23-21.

Though about two-thirds of the games have been played on Argentina's ground, France has won more than two-thirds of them. France won the only two matches the two have played on neutral ground.

The biggest difference in points was achieved by France during the second game of their 2012 tour to Argentina, winning 49–10.

Since 2000, the series has been especially closely fought, though Argentina has had the upper hand. In the 19 matches played in that time frame, the Pumas are 10–9, but nine of the matches were decided by a converted try (7 points) or less.

When the IRB introduced their world team rankings system in 2003, Argentina was ranked seventh and France fifth.[4] Since then the ranking changed frequently and the two teams' order was reversed many times like in March 2009, when Argentina climbed to fourth place and France fell to seventh.[5] Most recently, following Argentina's win in the first of their two-Test series in June 2012, the two teams switched places in the rankings with the Pumas in sixth and France in seventh but after their second game a week later, which saw France won by 39 points, France climbed back to the 5th place and Argentina drop to eighth.

Summary

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Overview

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Details Played Won by
Argentina
Won by
France
Drawn Argentina points France points
In Argentina 34 10 23 1 511 833
In France 19 5 14 0 326 435
Neutral venue 2 0 2 0 49 68
Overall 55 15 39 1 884 1,338

Records

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Note: Date shown in brackets indicates when the record was or last set.

Record Argentina France
Longest winning streak 4 (15 June 2002 – 25 November 2006) 12 (28 August 1949 – 2 July 1977)
Largest points for
Home 41 (26 June 2010) 39 (17 November 2012)
Away 34 (19 October 2007) 49 (23 June 2012)
Largest winning margin
Home 28 (26 June 2010) 23 (19 October 1975)
Away 24 (19 October 2007) 39 (23 June 2012)

Results

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No. Date Venue Score Winner Competition
1 28 August 1949 Estadio GEBA, Buenos Aires 0–5  France 1949 France tour of Argentina
2 4 September 1949 Estadio GEBA, Buenos Aires 3–12  France
3 29 August 1954 Estadio GEBA, Buenos Aires 8–22  France 1954 France tour of Argentina and Chile
4 12 September 1954 Estadio GEBA, Buenos Aires 3–30  France
5 23 July 1960 Estadio GEBA, Buenos Aires 3–37  France 1960 France tour of Argentina and Uruguay
6 6 August 1960 Estadio GEBA, Buenos Aires 3–12  France
7 17 August 1960 Estadio GEBA, Buenos Aires 6–29  France
8 20 June 1974 Estadio Ferro Carril Oeste, Buenos Aires 15–20  France 1974 France tour of Brazil and Argentina
9 29 June 1974 Estadio Ferro Carril Oeste, Buenos Aires 27–31  France
10 19 October 1975 Stade de Gerland, Lyon 29–6  France 1975 Argentina tour of France
11 25 October 1975 Parc des Princes, Paris 36–21  France
12 25 June 1977 Estadio Ferro Carril Oeste, Buenos Aires 3–26  France 1977 France tour of Argentina
13 2 July 1977 Estadio Ferro Carril Oeste, Buenos Aires 18–18 draw
14 14 November 1982 Stadium Municipal, Toulouse 25–12  France 1982 Argentina tour of France and Spain
15 20 November 1982 Parc des Princes, Paris 13–6  France
16 22 June 1985 Estadio Ferro Carril Oeste, Buenos Aires 24–16  Argentina 1985 France tour of South America
17 29 June 1985 Estadio Ferro Carril Oeste, Buenos Aires 15–23  France
18 31 May 1986 Estadio José Amalfitani, Buenos Aires 15–13  Argentina 1986 France tour of Argentina and Oceania
19 7 June 1986 Estadio José Amalfitani, Buenos Aires 9–22  France
20 18 June 1988 Estadio José Amalfitani, Buenos Aires 15–18  France 1988 France tour of South America
21 25 June 1988 Estadio José Amalfitani, Buenos Aires 18–6  Argentina
22 5 November 1988 Stade de la Beaujoire, Nantes 29–9  France 1988 Argentina tour of France
23 11 November 1988 Stadium Lille-Metropole, Lille 28–18  France
24 4 July 1992 Estadio José Amalfitani, Buenos Aires 12–27  France 1992 France tour of Argentina
25 11 July 1992 Estadio José Amalfitani, Buenos Aires 9–33  France
26 14 November 1992 Stade de la Beaujoire, Nantes 20–24  Argentina 1992 Argentina tour of Europe
27 21 October 1995 Estadio Ferro Carril Oeste, Buenos Aires 12–47  France 1995 Latin Cup [es; fr; it]
28 22 June 1996 Estadio Ferro Carril Oeste, Buenos Aires 27–34  France 1996 France tour of Argentina
29 29 June 1996 Estadio Ferro Carril Oeste, Buenos Aires 15–34  France
30 26 October 1997 Stade Maurice Trélut, Tarbes 32–27  France 1997 Latin Cup [es; fr; it]
31 13 June 1998 Estadio José Amalfitani, Buenos Aires 18–35  France 1998 France tour of Argentina and Fiji
32 20 June 1998 Estadio José Amalfitani, Buenos Aires 12–37  France
33 14 November 1998 Stade de la Beaujoire, Nantes 34–14  France 1998 Argentina tour of Japan and Europe
34 24 October 1999 Lansdowne Road, Dublin (Ireland) 26–47  France 1999 Rugby World Cup
35 15 June 2002 Estadio José Amalfitani, Buenos Aires 28–27  Argentina 2002 France tour of Argentina and Australia
36 14 June 2003 Estadio José Amalfitani, Buenos Aires 10–6  Argentina 2003 France tour of Argentina and New Zealand
37 20 June 2003 Estadio José Amalfitani, Buenos Aires 33–32  Argentina
38 20 November 2004 Stade Vélodrome, Marseille 14–24  Argentina 2004 Autumn International
39 25 November 2006 Stade de France, Saint-Denis 27–26  France 2006 Autumn International
40 7 September 2007 Stade de France, Saint-Denis 12–17  Argentina 2007 Rugby World Cup(PS)
41 19 October 2007 Parc des Princes, Paris 10–34  Argentina 2007 Rugby World Cup(3rd)
42 8 November 2008 Stade Vélodrome, Marseille 12–6  France 2008 Autumn International
43 26 June 2010 José Amalfitani, Buenos Aires 41–13  Argentina 2010 Summer International
44 20 November 2010 Stade de la Mosson, Montpellier 15–9  France 2010 Autumn International
45 16 June 2012 Estadio Mario Kempes, Córdoba 23–20  Argentina 2012 France tour of Argentina
46 23 June 2012 Estadio Monumental José Fierro, Tucumán 10–49  France
47 17 November 2012 Grand Stade Lille Métropole, Lille 39–22  France 2012 Autumn International
48 22 November 2014 Stade de France, Saint-Denis 13–18  Argentina 2014 Autumn International
49 19 June 2016 Estadio Monumental José Fierro, Tucumán 30–19  Argentina 2016 France tour of Argentina
50 25 June 2016 Estadio Monumental José Fierro, Tucumán 0–27  France
51 17 November 2018 Stade Pierre-Mauroy, Lille 28–13  France 2018 Autumn International
52 21 September 2019 Tokyo Stadium, Chōfu (Japan) 23–21  France 2019 Rugby World Cup
53 5 November 2021 Stade de France, Saint-Denis 29–20  France 2021 Autumn International
54 6 July 2024 Estadio Malvinas Argentinas, Mendoza 13–28  France 2024 France tour of Argentina
55 13 July 2024 Estadio José Amalfitani, Buenos Aires 33–25  Argentina
56 22 November 2024 Stade de France, Saint-Denis TBD 2024 Autumn International

List of series

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Played Won by
Argentina
Won by
France
Drawn
18 1 11 6
Year Argentina France Series winner
1949 0 2  France
1954 0 2  France
1960 0 3  France
1974 0 2  France
1975 0 2  France
1977 0 1  France[a]
1982 0 2  France
1985 1 1   draw
1986 1 1   draw
1988 1 1   draw
1988 0 2  France
1992 0 2  France
1996 0 2  France
2002 0 1  France
2003 2 0  Argentina
2012 1 1   draw
2016 1 1   draw
2024 1 1   draw

Notes

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  1. ^ France won the series 1–0, the second test resulting in a draw.

References

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  1. ^ a b Pick and go Rugby Test match database - select Los Pumas vs Les Bleus
  2. ^ "Argentina upset France up front". IRB. 2007-09-08. Retrieved 2009-03-05.
  3. ^ "Argentine upset of France kicks off rugby World Cup". 2007-09-08. Retrieved 2009-03-05.
  4. ^ 2003 IRB rankings table Archived 2010-11-05 at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ "IRB rankings table for 3 March 2009". Archived from the original on 2 March 2012. Retrieved 4 March 2009.