France will travel to Serbia for a senior men’s international in Belgrade on Sunday 24th September. The matches will commemorate the 70th anniversary of the trips by France A and France Students to the city to establish rugby league in the then Yugoslavia.

The two French sides played each other at Partisan Belgrade stadium on 26th September 1953 in front of a crowd of over 8,000, with the A team the victors in a 43-41 encounter. Later that year on 1st November, Partisan Belgrade Rugby League club was created as a legal entity. 

“We are thrilled that the French national team will return to Belgrade to celebrate 70 years of the sport being introduced in the region,” said Vladan Kikanovic, general secretary of the Serbian Rugby League Federation. It is a huge honour for us to host France and I am sure that it will be a match and an occasion to remember for the rugby league community here.”

Since the rebirth of the Serbian men’s national team in the early 2000s, the two countries have met a total of four times, with a steady improvement shown each time by the Baltic nation. In the latest World Rankings to 30th June 2023, Serbia were tenth and France ninth, the closest they have been.

“It is very exciting for our players to be travelling to Serbia to celebrate this anniversary” added Gilles Dumas, Performance Director of the FFRXIII. “I know it will be a great moment for the 70th Anniversary of Rugby League’s birth in Serbia.”