François Ratier's blunt two-word verdict after France's loss to the Black Ferns

François Ratier had a two-word response after his France team lost 28-14 to New Zealand’s Black Ferns in their WXV Global Series opener.

In Lyon, the 54-year-old saw his team score tries through Pauline Bourdon Sansus and Line Queyroi, but succumb to tries scored by the Black Ferns’ Justine McGregor, Mia Anderson, Mererangi Paul and Liana Mikaele-Tu’u.

New Zealand were simply the better team from the first whistle to the last. France lost their own lineout six times and New Zealand had much the better of the scrum. In the midfield Hannah King and Maia Joseph marshalled the game superbly.

Even so, moments of Gallic flair kept France in the contest whenever the Black Ferns defence wavered.

When asked what the difference was between the two teams, Ratier said, “Three games.”

Immediately the follow-up question came, “Just that?”

“It’s a big one,” he replied.

The Frenchman’s response is possibly not unfair. This was France’s first match since they lost out on the 2026 Guinness Women’s Six Nations Grand Slam to England in Bordeaux.

In the meantime, New Zealand’s players have turned out in Super Rugby Aupiki, a Black Ferns-Black Ferns XV fixture, the Laurie O’Reilly Cup against the Wallaroos and a Test against the Springbok Women at FNB Stadium.

All those match minutes have left the Black Ferns better prepared for the rigours of six Tests across September and October. France, right now, cannot say the same.

France, of course, will have another crack at the six-time world champions. Next month Ratier will lead his team in a three-game tour of New Zealand. It will be essential viewing.

The Europeans have not beaten the Black Ferns since 2023 at WXV 1. A week later, France lost out to the Wallaroos in a hugely engaging tournament hosted in Wellington, Dunedin and Auckland.

Since Whitney Hansen took charge of New Zealand at the start of this calendar year the team are unbeaten. They will now play Scotland in Edinburgh before meeting England at Allianz Stadium.

France, meanwhile, travel to Aix-en-Provence this week to play a Wallaroos team that led the Red Roses at half-time in Salford. The week after that they host Ratier’s former team, Canada, in La Rochelle.

Having gone in at the deep end and taken on the second-ranked team in the world first in autumn, Ratier is certain that his team will improve by next weekend.

“I think it was a good start to find a rhythm – the international rhythm,” he said, “that we didn’t have in the first-half. We need to fix a couple of things – especially in lineouts – where we were not able to capitalise on some momentum.”