History of rugby union matches between France and Wales

France and Wales have played each other at rugby union since 1908. A total of 104 matches have been played, with Wales winning 51 times, France 50 times and the remaining three finishing as draws.

The early years of the fixture were dominated by Wales, who won 18 of the first 19 matches before France were expelled from the Five Nations Championship after the 1931 tournament. Since France rejoined the competition in 1947, they have won 49 of the 85 matches played, including a 12-match winning streak between 1983 and 1993. The teams have met twice in the Rugby World Cup, firstly in the semi-finals of the 2011 tournament, which France won 9–8, then in the quarter-finals of the 2019 Rugby World Cup, which Wales won 20–19.

Summary
Note: Summary below reflects test results by both teams.

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

Early history: Welsh domination
Early in the history of the France–Wales match-up, Wales dominated the encounters with big victories from the 1908 Home Nations Internationals to the 1911 Five Nations Championship. Between 1910 and 1929, France finished wooden spooners six times in the competition, more than any other team, going back-to-back on two occasions (seasons 1912–1913 and 1925–1926). During this period France only managed to beat Wales once from a total of seventeen games. Indeed, Wales was France's most difficult Five/Home Nations Championship opponent at the time, holding just a 5.88% win percentage against them, whereas they held a 6.67% win percentage (1/15) against England, a 20% win percentage (3/15) against Ireland, and a 21.43% win percentage (3/14) against Scotland. Wales, by contrast, held a win percentage above 39% against all other Home/Five Nations Championship opponents. By the end of 1959 France and Wales had played against each other a total of thirty-two times. And although France's win percentage had improved (to 18.75%), it was still significantly lower than their win percentage against the other Five Nations Championship opponents (their lowest being 26.67% against England; their highest being 37.93% against Scotland).

1960–1980: Turning the tide
From 1960 to 1980 the two sides had played each other on twenty-one occasions. The record was split 9–9, with three draws. By this point the tide had slowly turned to being a one-sided affair to a more competitive one. Up to that point Wales won 66.04% of their encounters and still remained France's most difficult Five Nations Championship opponent. French improvement remained consistent against all other Five Nations Championship competitors as well. Their win percentage at 1980 was 35.29% against England, 48.08% against Ireland, and 48% against Scotland.

1980s–1990s: French command
Similar to the first two decades between France and Wales, in which Wales won an overwhelming majority of fixtures played between the pair, between the years 1980 and 1999 France dominated the Welsh; they won seventeen out of twenty-three meetings (73.91%), including a twelve-match win streak between the years 1983 and 1993.

Six Nations era: 2000–present
Since the introduction of the Six Nations Championship, both France and Wales have won six titles each, including four Grand Slam's. Early during the 2000s France largely maintained the stronghold that they gained throughout the previous decade, winning eight out of eleven matches. Following Wales' 2008 Six Nations Championship win over France, it took Wales four years before they would win another match (2012). In both years Wales were crowned Six Nations Champions.

As of 2024, both teams are each others most competitive test side, with France holding a 48.08% win percentage against Wales in their match-ups, and Wales holding a 49.04% win percentage.

XV results
Below is a list of matches that France has awarded matches test match status by virtue of awarding caps, but Wales did not award caps.