France will face Wales in a warm up match for the 2021 World Cup on Sunday 19th June at the Municipal Stadium in Albi.
This will be the 44th game between these two nations, with the last meeting in October 2018 a 54-18 victory for France in Carcassonne, earning them the European Champions title that year.
Albi has hosted two previous France v Wales encounters, a 42-22 victory for the home side in 2015 and a narrow victory for Wales in 2010 which ended 11-12.
France Head Coach Laurent Frayssinous said: ”This test match, which takes place during the weekend dedicated to the international window, will allow us to take an additional step in our preparation for the World Cup. We know what we need to improve and we have set targets to achieve in this test match against Wales.
“Wales is a proud nation, who always give their best on the pitch, and are very well organised and trained by John Kear, a former coach of the France team who always knows how to bring out the best in his players. They are made up of quality players from Super League like the wingers Regan Grace and Rhys Williams as well as Caleb Aekins, the former Canberra Raiders fullback in the NRL, to name a few.
“I can’t wait to meet our players and staff to prepare for this match, to be confronted with this formidable Welsh team, and to continue to build the cohesion and the culture of our team.”
Wales Head Coach John Kear is looking forward to the encounter: “I think that all nations need to take advantage of the free international weekend. As we’ve not played as a team for a number of years now, I see this as essential preparation for the World Cup against formidable opposition. The French game has had a renaissance recently – they’ve had success with Catalans and Toulouse and they’re hosting the 2025 World Cup.
“The game will be a tremendous challenge, it’s away from home and it’ll really test our metal to see what we need to work on to improve for the World Cup. We’ll have a good team out – as it’s a free weekend we can select from all who are available from Super League.”
Broadcast and ticketing details will be confirmed in due course.