Today marks a significant milestone in the countdown to the 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup, as we are now exactly one year away from the start of the tournament. The anticipation continues to grow ahead of the competition that will be hosted across England, with France captain Manae Feleu laying down the marker for World Cup glory.
France have already qualified for next year’s tournament, and Feleu has ensured that Les Bleus are planning to do more than just make up the numbers in 12 months time. One of the favourites to win the tournament and in search of their maiden crown, Feleu is ready to lead France to their first ever Women’s Rugby World Cup when the tournament rolls around on August 22nd, 2025.
“The goal is to win the World Cup. I think if you go to a World Cup without wanting to actually win it, it doesn’t make sense to come to a World Cup if that’s how you’re feeling about it. So the goal is definitely to win that and bring it back.”
Despite being just 24-years-old, Feleu will enter the 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup as one of the more experienced members of the France squad. Feleu has experienced the bright lights and packed stadiums of the World Cup before, as she was apart of the France side that took home bronze medals from New Zealand in 2022.
France were incredibly impressive back in Auckland, as they handed Canada a 36-0 landslide defeat to secure the third place medals. Whilst Feleu has fond memories of that match, she has taken plenty of learnings from her first run out on the world’s stage, and aims to go one match better to reach the final of the 2025 tournament.
“It was really exciting, because you could tell that there were heaps of people really interested in women’s rugby in that one, in New Zealand they were talking about it. So it’s really exciting to see all the support around the women’s game that we got over there. Everyone was always talking about it, I was getting really excited and I hope that it’s just going to be even better for the next World Cup.”
“I think I did get a lot of experience with all the strategy around the games, and what it takes to prepare for a big event like that. It starts way before the actual competition. So that’s one year out, but it’s going to be pretty quick until the Rugby World Cup, and I just know that one year goes by really quick. We need to get going right now and get prepared already for the World Cup.”
It was the Black Ferns who eliminated France in the semi-finals back in 2022, as New Zealand booked themselves a place in the final, before eventually retaining their Rugby World Cup crown against England. Despite the defeat, France have since turned their favours around in New Zealand, after handing the Black Ferns a historic defeat on home soil in last year’s WXV competition.
Both France and England defeated New Zealand in their own back yard, in what was an emphatic statement of intent from the northern hemisphere sides last Autumn. Feleu fondly recalled the 18-17 win, which ended the two-year unbeaten run of the formidable Black Ferns.
“It was really special to beat them on their ground. Beating the Black Ferns in general is really special because they’re one of the top teams in the world. So it’s always really cool to be able to beat teams like those, and I think they’re going to be really up to the challenge this year. So we’re going to have to prepare really well for our next game against them. It will be the last one of the WXV, and they will have time to prepare for our game. That’s going to be a really big game.”
Whilst France laid down the marker in their one-point win over New Zealand last year, the Red Roses blew the Black Ferns out of the water with their 33-12 triumph the following weekend to win the inaugural WXV title. England continue to rule the roost as the number one ranked women’s rugby side in the world, as the six-time consecutive Women’s Six Nations winners remain the team to beat for Feleu.
Feleu believes that the upcoming Test against England will be the ultimate opportunity to see where her side is at, as they prepare for the upcoming trip to Canada for 2024 WXV1. With the latter goal of a successful run in the 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup, and plenty of proving ground up for grabs for the break-through players in the squad, Feleu is excited to face England once again at the home of Gloucester Rugby.
“It’s gonna be a really good game for us. And given England is the best that you can have in the world right now. So playing against teams like this, are the best games to learn and to see what you need to work on to get better.
“So I think it’s going to be really good. Even because of the physicality of England, we’re going to play against teams that are kind of the same during the WXV. So I think it’s going to be really good to prepare for this.”
A battle-tested talent against the mighty England team, Feleu has gone to war with the Roses on many occassions since her French debut in 2020. The lock relishes the annual battle the sides share in the Women’s Six Nations, with the Grand Slam decided in the Anglo-French finale for the past three seasons.
Whilst Feleu has struggled to lead her side to the winning side of the score-line against England in recent meetings, she has come to understand the tactics that the Red Roses pride themselves upon. Having witnessed the end of the Simon Middleton era and the beginning of John Mitchell’s reign as head coach, Feleu sees little difference in how England attack and defend despite the changing of management.
“I think the English style hasn’t really changed with the coach. I think the English have a really specific style of playing rugby and that’s what their strength is as well. So I haven’t really noticed big changes in that, maybe like in tactics or things with backs, but I’m not a specialist in that.”
Casting her attention to her own coaching staff, France utilise a unique approach in organising the senior women’s side. France are headed up by two co-head coaches, as Gaëlle Mignot and David Ortiz share their insights in overseeing Les Bleus. Feleu discussed the interesting coaching dynamic this brings to the squad, and expressed her gratitude in having two top level coaches at the helm of her side.
“It has been really cool working with them, because it’s very special to have two co- head managers and coaches. They work as a team, and I think they’re so used to working as a team and communicating with each other. It’s really good to work with them, because they’re really good at communicating.
“We can give them feedbacks on what has been working and what has not been working. So they’re really good listeners. Usually when we have something to say about anything, they really listen to us. I think that’s really important when you have that relationship with managers.”
Since the 2024 Women’s Six Nations, Mignot and Ortiz have entrusted Feleu with the captaincy of the French national team. The second row was bestowed the honour at just 23-years-old, and took the armband away from Gaelle Hermet. Feleu was able to take plenty of advice from Hermet, as the wing also took up captaincy of the side at a rather young age, having been given the leadership role aged just 21-years-old.
“It really depends on on the coaches. Usually, they’re the ones that pick the captain and the captain has been really young, but they’re not the youngest. I was picked at 23, But the younger girls are usually 18. So we’re young but not a new group. We’re kind of in the middle, at the age of 23 and 24. I think maybe that’s what they look for, someone that’s kind of in between the beginning and the end of the career.”
“She really helped me through the role. I knew that she had been captain at a really young age. So she was a really big support through that, and then getting used to all the different things that have to do with the captaincy. Not only her, the other girls from the team that are big leaders, they helped me through the role. I wasn’t by myself with the captaincy. It was a group of leaders, and us working together, to make the best decision for the team.”
French rugby fans were recently treated to a Summer of celebration, as Antoine Dupont led the men’s sevens side to Olympic Gold Medals in Paris, and ended Fiji’s undefeated dominance at the Games. The French women’s sevens side finished fifth overall, with 15s fly half Caroline Drouin stepping up in the shortened version of the sport.
Manae Feleu was full of admiration for her teammate’s journey into the world of sevens, as Drouin is an accomplished athlete in both disciplines. Re-wind the clock back to the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, and Drouin collected a silver medal from the Japanese capital. Feleu certainly recognises the skill-set of her versatile teammate, and is excited to see what Drouin will bring back from her recent Olympic adventure.
“It’s about her work ethic. The work ethic in sevens is really big, and then when she comes back to 15s, you can feel that she brings that to the team. She does everything she can in training and all the work that we do out of training, she’s got really good experience as well. Both in 15s and in sevens, and what she learns in sevens she can also help us in 15s, so it’s just a really big plus for us.”
“She’s pretty good at that (fitness sessions). It’s usually it’s good for the fullbacks as well. It gets really competitive. So she adds that little bit of extra competition.”