Manaé Feleu (born 3 February 2000) is a French

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

player who plays for FC Grenoble Amazones and the

France women's national rugby union team The France women's national rugby union team represents France in women's international rugby union. They played their first international in 1982 against the Netherlands. History ''Source: "Des Filles en Ovalie", Éditions Atlantica (2005), W ...

Personal life

Born in

Mâcon Mâcon (), historically anglicised as Mascon, is a city in east-central France. It is the prefecture of the department of Saône-et-Loire in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. Mâcon is home to near 34,000 residents, who are referred to in French as M� ...

, she grew up on the

Futuna Islands The Hoorn Islands (also Futuna Islands) are one of the two island groups of which the French overseas collectivity (''collectivité d'outre-mer'', or ''COM'') of Wallis and Futuna is geographically composed. The aggregate area is 115 km², an ...

, to Valerie and Nisie, she has three siblings: Niue, Teani Feleu, and Asia. Her parents were the only physical education teachers on her island and they introduced rugby into the school and set up clubs to play matches. From the age of 14 she studied in Hawke's Bay, New Zealand for three years at

Woodford House Havelock North ( mi, Te Hemo-a-Te Atonga) is a town in the Hawke's Bay region of the North Island of New Zealand, situated less than 2 km south-east of the city of Hastings. It was a borough for many years until the 1989 reorganisation of loca ...

. Feleu moved to Grenoble with her sister Teani in 2020 to study medicine. She combines training to become a surgeon with rugby training.

Career

Feleu made her international debut for France against

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

in Grenoble on 14 November 2020 before being selected again a year later. She was named in France's team for the delayed

2021 Rugby World Cup The 2021 Rugby World Cup was the ninth staging of the women's Rugby World Cup, as organised by World Rugby. It was held from 8 October to 12 November 2022 in Auckland and Whangārei, New Zealand. It was originally scheduled to be held in 2021, ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. She featured in the games against

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

and

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

at the World Cup. Feleu was named in France's squad for the

2023 Women's Six Nations Championship The 2023 Women's Six Nations Championship, known as the TikTok Women's Six Nations for marketing purposes, was the 22nd series of the Women's Six Nations Championship, an annual women's rugby union competition between England, France, Ireland, It ...

. She was named as French captain for the

2024 Women's Six Nations Championship The 2024 Women's Six Nations Championship, known as the Guinness Women's Six Nations for sponsorship purposes except in France where due to alcohol sponsorship prohibitions the tournament was unsponsored, was the 23rd series of the Women's Six N ...

. She scored her first try for France during that championship against Wales.

References

2000 births Living people French female rugby union players France women's international rugby union players {{France-rugbyunion-bio-stub