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France may face either Uruguay or Chile in South America this year. A possible match is now firmly on the cards for Les Bleus against Los Teros or Los Cóndores in the July 2024 Internationals. It would be added to France’s already confirmed two-match tour to Argentina.
French publication Rugby Rama notes that an amendment between the LNR and FFR is being agreed upon. It will enable Head Coach Fabien Galthié will have access to 34 rather than 40 players for his rosters to prepare for international duty. 28 of the players will continue training with 6 returning to their clubs.
Greater access to key names is a leading trade-off to benefit both the test team and clubs. For the Americas, and test teams as a whole, the change will make possible more international rugby. France can now actively add on a third match to their tour to Argentina.
France will face Los Pumas in Argentina on July 06 and July 13. A third match could be France or France Développement. The FFR will confirm the announcement on Monday.
France hosted Rugby World Cup 2023. The tournament featured all three of Argentina, Uruguay, and Chile. Argentina were Semi Finalists, Uruguay featured in France’s pool and Chile were debutants. France’s pool match against Uruguay showed the South Americans putting up a genuine fight.
Uruguay were more competitive against France than were Namibia and Italy. The match itself was the first capped fixture between France and Uruguay. Their previous meetings in Montevideo in 1965 and 1980 were both uncapped.
Neither Uruguay nor Chile have yet to announce their international fixtures for July. Of the two Uruguay is the higher ranked. In the event of a 2024 meeting in Montevideo, it is hoped that all efforts are made to ensure it would be a capped test match.
Uruguay and Chile have both openly spoken about the frustrations of not playing Tier 1 opposition. France playing a test match in South America against either Chile or Uruguay would be a tremendous boost in this regard. It may be one of two as advanced talks are taking place for Uruguay to face Argentina in 2024 and annually.
