France's François Ratier turns to a pair of former rivals to fill coaching vacancies

France’s new head coach François Ratier has turned to a pair of former rivals to fill two vacancies in his national coaching set-up, less-than two weeks out from Les Bleues’ first training camp of the year.

Former Stade Bordelais coach Ratier has been busy since officially moving into his new office at the FFR’s Marcoussis headquarters at the beginning of January, shuttling between Elite 1 and 2 clubs to meet coaching staff and lay the foundations of what he hopes will be a close club-country working relationship.

But his other key priority was to fill two open senior coaching roles.

The FFR announced in a statement on Thursday that Gérald Bastide has joined Ratier’s staff in charge of defence, transition and skills; while Florent Wieczorek comes on board as forwards coach. He will also assist Ratier, a winger in his playing days, with attack coaching.

Both had applied to replace the duo of Gaëlle Mignot and David Ortiz as head coach of France’s women’s squad when the job was advertised in October.

Ratier said: “I am very pleased to welcome these two new coaches to the French Women’s squad staff. I am really looking forward to working with them, especially as the next matches are coming up quickly and we have to be immediately committed and aligned with the project.

“They bring with them solid experience and real skills, acquired over several years in professional and federal environments. Their expertise at the highest level and their mastery of the demands of the field will be valuable assets for our staff.

“Their profiles complement each other, both in terms of their backgrounds and their areas of expertise. This should strengthen the organisation of the staff and bring greater efficiency on a daily basis.”

Former fullback Bastide — who had been defence coach for the men’s national side under Guy Novès and co-coached the women’s A team alongside Nathalie Amiel between 2006 and 2008, and was backs coach of the men’s under-20s between 2012 and 2015 — was most recently defence coach at Top 14 side Perpignan between 2019 and October 2025. But he paid the price for the Catalan club’s dismal start to the season.

After leaving then-ProD2 side Montauban in February 2024, Wieczorek has worked as a consultant coach outside France, including a spell last season with English Premiership side Bath.

The coaches will meet their players for the first time on February 9th, when they convene for a three-day training camp, where they will officially begin the next Women’s Rugby World Cup cycle.

A second training camp is scheduled for March 23rd to 27th, ahead of the opening round of the Women’s Six Nations.