In June 2016,

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

played a two-test series against

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

as part of the 2016 mid-year rugby union tests. They played Los Pumas across the two weeks that were allocated to the June International window (19 June and 25 June), and which were part of the fourth year of the global rugby calendar established by the

International Rugby Board World Rugby is the world governing body for the sport of rugby union. World Rugby organises the Rugby World Cup every four years, the sport's most recognised and most profitable competition. It also organises a number of other international rug ...

, which runs through to 2019. This was the first French tour to Argentina since their drawn series in

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

. The French domestic

Top 14 The Top 14 () is a professional rugby union club competition that is played in France. Created in 1892, the Top 14 is at the top of the national league system operated by the French National Rugby League, also known by its French initialism o ...

tournament ended later than usual, as no games were scheduled during the pool phase of the

2015 Rugby World Cup The 2015 Rugby World Cup was the eighth Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial rugby union world championship. The tournament was hosted by England from 18 September to 31 October. Of the 20 countries competing in the World Cup in 2011, there was onl ...

. Therefore, the semi-finals and final of the 2015–16 season coincided with the June international window, clashing with the French games on the 19 and 25 June.

Fixtures

Squads

Note: Ages, caps and clubs are as per 19 June, the first test match of the tour.

France

On 6 June, Guy Novès named the first set of players for France's two-test series against

. The squad did not include any of the six Top 14 play-offs teams,

Castres Castres (; ''Castras'' in the Languedocian dialect, Languedocian dialect of Occitan language, Occitan) is the sole Subprefectures in France, subprefecture of the Tarn (department), Tarn Departments of France, department in the Occitania (administ ...

, Clermont,

Toulon Toulon (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Tolon , , ) is a city on the French Riviera and a large port on the Mediterranean coast, with a major naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, and the Provence province, Toulon is th ...

Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Par ...

Racing In sport, racing is a competition of speed, in which competitors try to complete a given task in the shortest amount of time. Typically this involves traversing some distance, but it can be any other task involving speed to reach a specific goa ...

Montpellier Montpellier (, , ; oc, Montpelhièr ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of ...

(except François Trinh-Duc who was released by Montpellier for the tour) due to the play-offs taking place between 11 and 24 June. On 13 June, Novès named a further 11 players on top of the initial 17, after Toulouse and Castres and were eliminated from the Top 14 quarter-finals. On 19 June, Paul Jedrasiak was called up to the squad following Clermont Auvergne's elimination from the Top 14. Coaching team: * Head coach:

Guy Novès Guy Novès (born 5 February 1954) is a former French rugby union player and most recently coach of the French national team. Born in Toulouse, Novès, who played on the wing, was capped seven times for his country, and played with Stade Toulousai ...

* Forwards coach:

Yannick Bru Yannick Bru (born 22 May 1973) is a French rugby union coach, currently serving as the breakdown coach on South African team Sharks. He will become the head coach at Union Bordeaux Bègles in the Top 14 at the start of the 2023/24 season. Bru was ...

* Backs coach: Jean-Frederic Dubois

Argentina

On 31 May, Argentina named a 28-man squad for the June internationals against

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

and

. On 12 June, Ignacio Larrague was called up to the squad as an injury replacement for Matías Alemanno. On 16 June, Ramiro Herrera and Tomás Lavanini were called up to the squad ahead of the two-test series against France. Coaching team: * Head coach: Daniel Hourcade * Defence coach:

Pablo Bouza Pablo Bouza (born 9 May 1973) is an Argentine retired rugby union player and current coach who won 38 caps playing at No 8, flanker or lock for the Argentine rugby union side. He played club rugby in England with Leeds Carnegie (formerly Leeds ...

* Backs coach: Germán Fernández * Forwards coach: Emiliano Bergamaschi

Matches

First Test

Second Test

Argentina warm-up match

On 11 June, Argentina played host to

in the lead up to the French series.

Statistics

Key *Con: Conversions *Pen: Penalties *DG: Drop goals *Pts: Points

France statistics

Test series statistics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:France

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

2016 rugby union tours

2016 in Argentine rugby union