Talking Rugby In French - English to French Rugby Dictionary

Whether you're learning French, just moved there, on holiday during a game or even lucky enough to make the visit over for a 6 Nations match, it's always useful to know what the commentators or other fans are saying, so here are a few words/phrases you may want to learn before you head off.

Let's start off with the positions, which, for the most part, is simple enough (if you're doing the talking and get stuck on the word, referring to the shirt number is always the easisest solution).

1.	Loosehead Prop	Pilier Gauche
2.	Hooker	Talonneur
3.	Tighthead Prop	Pilier Droit
4.	Second Row	Deuxième Ligne
5.	Second Row	Deuxième Ligne
6.	Blindside Flanker	Troisième Ligne Aile Côté Fermé**
7.	Openside Flanker	Troisième Ligne Aile Côté Ouvert
8.	Number 8	Troisième Ligne Centre
9.	Scrum-half	Demi de Mêlée
10.	Fly-half	Demi d'ouverture
11.	Left Winger	Ailier Gauche***
12.	Inside Centre	Le Premier Centre
13.	Outside Centre	Le Deuxième Centre
14.	Right Winger	Ailier Droit
15.	Fullback	L'Arrière

* which, lets face it, is a much cooler word in French

** flankers are sometimes called "Flanqueurs"
*** wingers are referred to as "Ailers" or "Trois-Quarts Aileurs"

So those are your basics, next time you're trying to explain that England need an out-and-out 7 you can say that the keep putting bloody "côté fermé"s in the "côté ouvert" spot when there are plenty of other options, and that's why we got knocked out of the World Cup. Another pretty useful word when describing the tacitcal nouse or complete ineptitude of your coach is the actual word for Head Coach, which is "L'Entraîneur".

So now you can spot the players, tell the French person behind you that your "demi d'ouverture" is going to pile the points on them and that their "arrière" is seriously overrated, but now you need to say exactly what the players do on the pitch that will make the difference. No worries, we're here to help.

We'll start with the more simple vocabulary and work our way up :

Basic:

A freekick	Un coup de pied (un bras cassé)
A high tackle	Un plaquage haut
The kit	Le maillot
To pass	Passer
A lineout	Un touche
A penalty (kick)	Un pénalité (Un coup de pied de pénalité)
To play	Jouer
The posts	Les poteaux (Les perches)
A scrum	Un mêlée
A tackle	Un plaquage
To tackle	Plaquer
A try	Un essaie

Intermediate :

Behind the back pass	Une chistera
A big hit	Un tampon (Don't laugh)
A clothesline tackle	Une cravatte
The defensive line	Le rideau défensif
A punch	Un coup de poing or une patate
To rip the ball	Gratter
To switch	Croiser
A tip tackle	Une cathédrale
An up-and-under	Une chandelle

Advanced :

A bust up	Le général
A colossal hit	Un caramel
An eye gouge	Une fourchette (literally a fork)
A forward pass	Passe en avant
A massive hit	Un arrêt buffet
A mess	Un vrai bourbier
Mud	La boue
A wet ball	Une savonette

Hopefully you'll be able to survive your time speaking or understanding French thanks in part to this guide. Let us know how you got on!

One final phrase that you might be interesting in learning is "On ne sait jamais de quel côté français apparaîtra", which is the most tired and worn out phrase to describe the French, " You never know which French side will turn up!"




We are constantly updating our English to French rugby dictionary, so if you have any suggestions or constructive criticism we would love to hear from you at @FourBallsBlog on Twitter. So far we have had valuable contributions from the following:

Illtud Dafydd - @IlltudDaffydd
Matt Hobson -  @hobsonm
Pierre Ammiche - @PierreAmmiche
Richard Woolf - @Richard_Woolf13
The Dead Ball Area - @TheDeadBallArea
http://www.lerugbynistere.fr/dictionnaire/