Women's Six Nations: What progress have France made under François Ratier?

The Red Roses were successful in their bid to add another Guinness Women’s Six Nations crown to their trophy cabinet, again at Les Bleues’ expense, who were targeting their first bit of silverware since 2018.

Despite coming empty-handed, has France experienced growth and progress under François Ratier? Or are they in the same place as before, while England are getting further and further away?

It’s possible that parts of your proposals are true, but to reach a conclusion, it’s essential to assess France’s performances in 2025 and 2026, not only globally, but in matches against England.

To kick things off, let’s first lay to rest the simple comparison between this year’s and last year’s scoreline. While France did only lose by one point in 2025, the overall flow of the game went mostly in England’s way, with the Red Roses only losing control of the ball possession and territory in the final 10 minutes.

At the same time, it is vital to remember that 2025 was Gaëlle Mignot and David Ortiz’s third year as the head coach duo of Les Bleues, giving them an advantage that François Ratier [still] doesn’t have.

So, trying to solve this riddle by just comparing results is a mistake, because there’s more to it, as the stats can show. First, France’s 2026 campaign was overall superior to 2025, recording larger winning margins against Ireland [+19], Scotland [+41], Wales [+31] and Italy [+33].

Although many of these scores were only secured in the final half hour of each match, France still emerged as a more menacing, physically aggressive, and exciting side than in 2025.

If we were to compare the final stats from 2025 and 2026, then it only highlights François Ratier’s success and work even more:

• More tries scored [31]
• More carries [840] – the highest of the entire competition
• More defenders beaten [187] – the highest of the Six Nations
• More line breaks [67]
• The most with carrying metres [3,486]
• The team with fewer tackles missed [84] – showcasing a 86 per cent tackle success rate

But what about their offensive performance against England? Interestingly, they did better this time around, although in 2025 they scored more tries [6] and produced more line breaks [12]. France committed fewer handling mistakes than last season, losing possession 16 times, compared to the 22 self-inflicted mistakes from 2025.

Even though England left the Stade Atlantique with a 43–28 victory, they did not dominate possession or territory, with the home side leading in both areas.

However, both of these last two pieces of data reveal one of the few issues within this France’s offensive approach to the game – points scored per entry in the last 22.

England in 2025 and 2026 had fewer entries in the last 22 than France, with seven and 10, respectively. But the Red Roses made those entries pay off more than the opposition, averaging 4.3 points scored in 2025 and 5.7 in 2026. As for France, they only averaged 3.5 points per entry in 2025 [12 entries] and 2.3 in 2026 [12 entries].

It shows that England knew when and how to capitalise, while Les Bleues, due to inconsistency, rushed play, or miscommunication, missed critical opportunities to strike and get closer to winning the title.

But, again, the overall offensive stats were far superior in 2026 even against England, showcasing some promising signs of change and growth.

So, if France improved somewhat across most of their offensive stats, why the 15-point difference? In one word: set-piece. Well, maybe the set-piece isn’t the sole reason for France’s demise, but to only record a 60 per cent and 56 per cent own scrum and lineout win respectively paints a grim picture.

Against a side as experienced and dominant as England, it is simply impossible to come out as winners if the set-piece doesn’t fully function and provide not only a steady platform but also a reliable anchor when the pressure is turned on.

Mathilde Lazarko, who had been an influential figure in the previous four rounds, was swallowed whole by the English lineout, depriving France of capitalising on several key and crucial attacking opportunities.

But the jumping pods also share some of the blame, as neither of France’s main jumpers was able to consistently contest England’s lineout own throws, allowing the visiting side to settle their platform at their leisure.

As for the scrum, Les Bleues had a mixed bag: in the opening half, they conceded two penalties, but in the second string of 40 minutes, there was improvement.

Nonetheless, the main detail of France’s scrummaging woes wasn’t in the scrummaging per se; it was in the lack of speed in their back row, allowing Lucy Packer and Zoe Harrison to feel more comfortable setting up their attacking play.

For England’s fifth try, Charlotte Escudero tried to apply pressure to England’s ball exit, while Manae Feleu and Léa Champon allowed themselves to get entangled in the scrum drive.

It made Carla Arbez and Pauline Barrat’s task even more impossible, especially when Ellie Kildunne went full throttle before sending the ball Jess Breach’s way.

Amy Cokayne’s try, albeit being a cunning play by England, showcased a lack of set-piece and positional defence awareness that the visitors quickly took advantage of.

And yet, despite all its flaws, the French set-piece still produced three tries—prompting the question of what the outcome might have been had it functioned at full efficiency.

In what concerned their defence, France were highly physical and tried to counter England’s aggression throughout the full 80 minutes, producing several dominant tackles, with Madoussou Fall Raclot putting on a great show.

Unfortunately, it was also the game in which the team conceded the most points in the last Women’s Six Nations Le Crunch match-ups. As we’ve already specified how the set-piece helped England opposition land an early comeback, we will look at the critical tactical error that led France to a staggering defeat: the second defensive curtain.

While the first and second conceded tries were direct results of handling or lineout mistakes, the third, fourth and fifth were similar, with France unable to replenish their first line of defence quickly. With England quickly upping the pace, Les Bleues were easily beaten, unable to put up a second defensive curtain that could withstand the opposition.

Whether it was due to a miscommunication between Arbez and Barrat, a lack of speed from the back row trio, or too much passivity from the centre pairing Teani Feleu and Aubane Rousset, France’s ambition to win the title eventually crumbled. If François Ratier had his best players available in the centres would’ve it be enough to somewhat edge them closer to clinch a championship win?

That’s a question dyed in several shades of grey, as it is difficult to measure whether the absences of Gabrielle Vernier and Joanna Grisez had a greater impact on how France plays than England’s missing out on Kelsey Clifford, Morwenna Talling or Zoe Stratford.

Grisez and Vernier are both world-class players who can tip the weight of the scales with a single touch of the ball, and by having both sidelined due to injury, it might’ve taken a toll on France’s performance against England.

Even if we can’t provide a full-blown answer to the conundrum of which absences had the most impact, it’s important to emphasise that England has a larger player pool, which, in the end, managed to allow them to excel still.

This is something that François Ratier will need to tackle moving forward, especially if the Les Bleues desire to be seen and respected as a contender not only for the Women’s Six Nations but also for Women’s Rugby World Cup 2029.

However, it would be a mistake not to acknowledge that France, under François Ratier, hasn’t showcased a new energy and enticing dynamics, which, with time, will certainly be the rival that England needs them to be.