France coach Ratier takes full responsibility after 81-12 thrashing by Black Ferns

France were beaten 81-12 by the Black Ferns at FMG Stadium in Hamilton on Saturday, their most comprehensive defeat since New Zealand won 109-0 at the 1996 Canada Cup — a margin of more than 60 points not seen in nearly three decades. Whitney Hansen’s side scored 13 tries to open their WXV Global Series home campaign in emphatic fashion.

France head coach Ratier was unflinching in accepting the blame. “I take full responsibility for the fact that I’m the one who put them on the pitch,” she said. “They’re doing the best they can with the abilities they have, but I’m the one who selected them — I want that to be clear. I take ownership.”

The France squad was notably inexperienced, with many of the matchday 23 holding five caps or fewer, and the side was also missing key figures Manae Feleu, Madoussou Fall Raclot and Pauline Bourdon Sansus. Ratier was keen to shield her players from the fallout, telling them they had nothing to be ashamed of while still demanding a professional response.

“The players shouldn’t be hanging their heads in shame; that’s what we’ve told them,” she said. “That said, we did ask them to do their job this week, because they do have a job to do.”

France will have little time to regroup. The two sides meet again next weekend at Semenoff Stadium in Whangarei, giving Ratier’s squad an immediate opportunity to respond.

Despite the scale of the loss, the coach urged her players to channel their frustration into long-term progress. “Once again, we’re at the start of a new cycle,” she said. “It really hurts. Honestly, it just sucks. One day we’ll look back on this as just a moment in our journey. A bad moment. We have to turn it into something positive.”

France’s form under Ratier has been difficult to read. In May, they entered the final round of the Women’s Six Nations in contention for a Grand Slam before being well beaten by England in Bordeaux. In the WXV Global Series they have now lost twice to the Black Ferns, been pushed close by the Wallaroos, and beaten a poor Canada side in La Rochelle — a mixed record that makes their true level hard to assess, particularly with so many senior players unavailable.

“Right now, certainly, no one is proud or happy with the result,” Ratier said. “We feel ashamed; that’s not the image we wanted to project. Beyond the fact that our opponents dominated, and there was a clear disparity in the level of play, they were simply better than us.”