South Africa are the only other team to achieve this feat, as both teams notched up three victories apiece. France triumphed over Japan, New Zealand, and Argentina, while South Africa defeated Scotland, England, and Wales.
"Despite everything, in a post-World Cup season we've had 80% victories," summarised France's head coach, Fabien Galthié, following their third and final win of November.
An autumnal clean sweep
To be precise, change that to 72% victories. With eleven matches played this calendar year, the record is more than satisfactory: eight wins, one draw (against Italy in the Guinness Men's Six Nations), and two losses (against Ireland in the Championship opener and Argentina on their home turf over the summer).
While 72% in 2024 is lower than the 78% in 2023 - a World Cup year with a record 14 tests (11 wins) - and less than the legendary 100% in 2022 (10 wins in 10 matches), it matches the performance in 2021 (8 wins in 11 matches) and is slightly below Galthié's first year in charge at 80% (8 wins in 10 matches).
However, to put this into context: this 72% is excellent news for French rugby, which has faced one of its darkest years off the field. It’s clear why the coaching staff and players were so pleased, especially after finally coming to terms with their quarter-final exit from the Rugby World Cup.
"The post-World Cup year has been unique; a year in which we worked hard but never had a full squad," Galthié explained. "The [Six Nations] was tough, even though we finished second. We had a tour in Argentina with a young team, developing players who were off to a good start, but you know what happened. Despite that, we won two out of three matches in Argentina [a drawn series with the Pumas and a win v Uruguay]. And we gathered the best team at the moment despite some notable absences."
Proof of the pudding
This series of victories "validates a method, a function, a feeling," according to Laurent Sempéré, the coach in charge of lineouts (amongst other areas). After a tumultuous Six Nations that followed a World Cup with a new-look coaching staff that had never worked together, it was only during the tour of Argentina that Galthié's team could truly get to work.
"During this period, we trained a bit more to hone our methods and allow our players to [get used to them]. That’s when we found the right quantity and quality of training," Sempéré reflected. "Today we have a system in which we can integrate and collaborate fully since we share the same ideas about the game," added his colleague in charge of forwards, William Servat. "This collaboration is fantastic. We're constantly sharing and have a coherent vision of our game. Our players are behind this system, with organised play amidst disorganisation."
The public returns
Another positive development was the return of the team and its fans to the Stade de France. This came after a season on the road as the Olympics took over Paris. France were forced to relocate to regional venues (Marseille, Lille, and Lyon) during the Championship. Across this year's Autumn Nations Series, back at the Stade de France, attendance was 50,000 for Japan, 80,000 for New Zealand, and 66,000 for Argentina, marking a cumulative increase of 10%.
Record TV audiences
Another piece of good news from this international window was the record TV audiences that have continued to rise on TF1, the official broadcaster of France's matches. While the France v Japan match attracted 4.5 million viewers (26.3% audience share), an average of 7.3 million tuned in for the historic victory against the All Blacks the following week, peaking at 8.3 million.
6.7 million viewers watched the victory over Argentina on a Friday night. According to TF1, this was "the second-best historical audience for a Test match after France v New Zealand" the previous Saturday.
In comparison, the French football team, playing in the same window of Nations League matches, attracted 5 million viewers on average for each game.
Galthié said: "It was important to regain momentum; it was crucial to show up for these three matches, and we did so against teams that were finishing their seasons and had been in form for six months. So we had to move quickly to be able to compete and perform."
The return of the Top 14 and European competitions (Champions Cup and Challenge Cup) now approaches, before the Guinness Men's Six Nations kicks off in Paris in just two months. By that point, Les Bleus will be looking to secure their first piece of silverware since 2022.
