Forget all about Inspector Clouseau and discover the rugby league-playing police officers of France instead.
CORPORATE sports teams are sometimes undervalued in French rugby league.
They offer a good opportunity to practice the game, in a good spirit, and far from the tense atmosphere of the recurrent derbies between teams who know each other inside out.
One of these corporate sports teams deserves attention for many reasons; ‘France PM Rugby League’ is the name of a national selection of policemen officially established in the area of Toulouse, but who benefit from the stadium and the facilities of the famous FC Lézignan XIII, Stade du Moulin. But before I introduce the team to you, let me explain the two letters ‘PM’.
PM stands for Police Municipale, the local police of towns and cities in France. Sorry to disappoint any Inspector Clouseau fans, but he is supposed to work for the French Sûreté (Police nationale, the state police) so there’s no chance to see that fictional character associated with this team!
Fortunately for French rugby league, 35-year-old Ludovic Maunier and his teammates, unlike Clouseau, are not clumsy at all, as they’ve managed to bring life to an international project; they already played their first game against an Australian team at home in 2023 (a 52-0 defeat against the impressive team of NSW Police Rugby League, which defeated the Great Britain Police 50-8 in 2024) and recently played an away game against Lupi del Nord in Italy (a convincing 40-10 victory at Colorno, Province of Parma). Their 2026 diary already includes two matches; they are to play the German exiles (a team established in UK) and later the future selection of the Belgian national police.
It’s also interesting to note that Maunier is a former rugby union player who turned to league but who was immersed in the culture of our code. Proof, if it were needed, that it’s no use alienating rugby union fans or stakeholders.
Indeed, he told me: “I’ve been enjoying rugby league since my childhood, my father would take me to Toulouse Olympique games when Sébastien Raguin was playing. Actually, I played union because my friends would play it too. But I had an opportunity to play for France PM Rugby League against the Australian team in 2023 and it was a wonderful experience. I decided to run for the presidency, and I got to keep on living that great adventure. I was also fortunate to play in our latest game in Italy.”
Also, Maunier is proud to announce that the selection found sponsors and partners and is supported by the French Rugby League Federation.
His team was also well accepted by the Treiziste community and the clubs who made symbolic but important gestures.
“French clubs helped us with the raffle we had organised to fund our trip to Italy. Pia gave us an official jersey, Villefranche-de-Rouergue and Toulouse Olympique gave us jerseys signed by all the team. Julian Bousquet (Catalans Dragons) also gave us a shirt signed by himself and some of his teammates.”
This level of support was particularity appreciated as players of France PM Rugby League usually pay travel expenses out of their own pockets.
As a French citizen I also wanted to know what it is like to play rugby league as a policeman in France. Municipal policemen are in positions of authority, an authority which is questioned from time to time by the public… as is any authority in my country!
Maunier replied: “Rugby league and the police share the same values. This is very helpful in our everyday work. We also want to give the public and the foreign teams a good image of our work.”
Still on the subject of questioning authority, I asked him what he made of refereeing in France, still a touchy subject here.
“Of course, we appreciate the protection of the referees. We may be in disagreement with them during a game, but the respect of referees and their protection are non-negotiable conditions to be accepted in our team.”
Unfortunately, like any Treiziste organisation in this country, France PM Rugby League suffers from the ignorance of a large part of the French public towards the sport.
Yet, they are in a constant search for new challenges and have a message for RLW readers: “We’re looking for teams, mainly based in Europe, to play us either at home or in France.”
Anyone interested can contact: francepmrugbyleague@gmail.com
I’m sure that a match between France and Great Britain would be great game to watch. Your ‘Bobbies’ against our ‘Municipaux’?
It would also be an opportunity to generate some interest with the French public, which is familiar with corporate sports teams, that they call “quipes Corpo”. And is there anything more familiar to them than those they see daily and who are the first and the closest ones to come when they have a problem?
Little by little, rugby à XIII may get into the collective consciousness again.
First published in Rugby League World magazine, Issue 511 (August 2025)