“Me, I like to score tries!” Instant meeting between a champion, the player of the French rugby team Coumba Diallo, and young girls from the Argenteuil club on the occasion of a special initiation day in a priority district of Val-d’ Oise.”I’m really happy that there are a lot of girls, it’s nice to see that women’s rugby is developing more and more in rugby schools. Seeing them at 3, 4, 5 or 6 years old is fun to see!“, rejoices the third line of the XV of France, in the face of the next generation. Especially since Coumba Diallo, she only started rugby at 18, at the end of the 2000s.
Since that time, actions have been taken, like here, to start rugby earlier. The challenge for the French rugby federation is to bring as many girls as possible into this sport, to have a pool of players for future French teams. A real groundwork, not always obvious, but which bears fruit.
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On a neighboring field, Jimmy, an educator, gives voice, to encourage quasi-beginners. Ambrine and Dina discovered rugby last year, during an initiation day: “It’s too good! We catch the ball, while football sucks because it’s only at the foot. There, we have the right to push our comrades and take the ball from them. It’s wonderful rugby, it’s too good“, laugh in chorus the two young girls.
And they assure it:I’ve already proposed to my mother to make it next year, she said we’ll see!“With these young recruits, the federation is aiming for a rebalancing: today, girls represent only 12% of rugby licensees in France.