Manae Feleu: 'It's very funny, because every year, everyone tells us about England'

If there was ever a sign of the impact that France captain Manaé Feleu has had on the French sporting landscape, it came in the build up to France’s clash against their auld enemy England, in the fifth and final round of the Men’s Guinness Six Nations.

To mark 120 years of Le Crunch, the French Rugby Federation (FFR) launched a limited-edition kit to mark the occasion, harking back to their original colours of sky blue. In the accompanying advert, Feleu is part of the fun, giving Liverpool striker Hugo Ekitike a lift on the back of her tandem to meet the likes of Antoine Dupont, Romain Ntamack, and Louis Bielle-Biarrey, who are doing all they can make the English feel at home.

“It was crazy,” said Feleu. “It was an honour to be part of it. It’s a really great recognition for the women’s game. It was a historical moment for everyone in the campaign and was great.

“I was really honoured to be part of it, and it shows that we’re developing, and people are seeing us, which is very, very nice. It was so fun having everyone there.”

With the tandem put away, Feleu’s attention has turned back to the Guinness Women’s Six Nations which begins with a match at home to Italy at the Stade des Alpes in Grenoble, her hometown.

Fixture

Womens Six Nations

France Women

04:25

11 Apr 26

Italy Women

All Stats and Data

France have a new head coach in ex-Canada boss François Ratier, who had no hesitation in keeping the 26-year-old as his captain. Feleu was given the captaincy for WXV1 in 2023, and later on she co-captained with winger Marine Ménanger during last year’s Championship and the Rugby World Cup.

Ménager is no longer in the squad after the winger retired after the World Cup, but Feleu is confident she will have plenty of help from her team-mates.

“I’m flying on my own officially, but we’ve always got the leaders,” she said. “We’ve got a group of leaders. I’m captain because someone has to be captain and has to do all the things during the games and all this media stuff, but I’ve got a big group of leaders behind me. I’m not by myself. I’m not alone.”

Feleu’s back story is a fascinating one and gives her a wider perspective on playing. She was born in France but grew up in the Wallis and Futuna Islands in French Polynesia from the age of two before going on to be educated in New Zealand, hence the Kiwi twang when she speaks English.

From there she opted to attend university in France, where she has been balancing her studies to be a surgeon with her club career with Grenoble Amazones.

As well as Feleu’s home stadium playing host to France’s opening match against Italy, the FFR are taking their match against Ireland to the Stade Marcel-Michelin in Clermont-Ferrand, and their Round 5 clash against England to Stade Matmut Atlantique in Bordeaux.

“It’s really important as the French Federation really emphasises going to different places,” Feleu said. “The boys can’t really do it anymore, because they have too many people going to their games, but we have the chance to be able to go around France, because it’s the opportunity to have fans from all over France at our games.

“Everywhere we go, it’s always sold out. The fans are great. We have great support from everyone.”

The match against England is the final clash of the Championship, and the Red Roses will be aiming to close out another Grand Slam in a run that stretches back to 2019. In 2024, John Mitchell’s team claimed the Championship title with a 42-21 win in the city’s other stadium, Stade Chaban Delmas, but in 2025 only a point separated the teams at Allianz Stadium in Round 5.

England also beat France in the World Cup semi-final, and while Feleu is well aware that they are the sport’s benchmark, her focus is on ensuring France arrive in Bordeaux with a chance to claim their first title since 2018.

“It’s very funny, because every year, everyone tells us about the fixture against England and it’s always the last one,” she said. “We never talk about England until it’s England. We’ve got four games to think about before that, if we want to have a big finale with England.

“It’s their consistency, just whatever they have against them, it’s always there as their common potential. Being able to put on performances like that over the years and over tournaments and being able to be at that level for so long is crazy and very inspirational.”