In France, rugby league does not suffer from too much communication – but from too little clarity. How can the sport better tell its own story?

“THE single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.”

I’m sure you’re familiar with this famous quote from George Bernard Shaw.

And maybe, like me, you are sometimes tired of all those institutional communiqués from various sources, which are often full of words but lacking substance.

We all have some examples in mind, related to politics, international relations and so on.

Sport, of course, is also the perfect place to witness this phenomenon, and in France, our most popular sports – football and rugby union – have become masters of that “art”, and are sometimes perfect targets of comedians, to our amusement.

But to be honest, it’s a good problem to have – a luxury.

I won’t repeat myself, but you know that in France, rugby league doesn’t have this luxury. And if I wanted to be provocative and sum things up, I would suggest a motto along the lines of “There’s no such thing as bad publicity, as long as they spell Rugby à XIII right and don’t call it ‘Jeu à XIII’.”

Nevertheless, communication must inevitably serve a different purpose in French rugby league.

If you read the previous Treiziste Diary columns, we have explored some examples.

Yannick Rey, the Communications Officer of the Catalans Dragons, set out a blueprint for effective communication in RLW 495. To sum up, he advised clubs to focus on digital media and set clear targets. Rey was very transparent and his words were very useful.

In the past, there was also an example of how important communication is for our sport in France. For instance, I was surprised to read in the columns of the French regional newspapers that the Australian players’ union (RLPA) refused to let Australia play a warm-up game against France before their tour in England. The expression used by Dominique Baloup was even “vetoed” (see RLW 514).

The least I can say is that my exchanges with the RLPA’s communications department were not as crystal clear as they were with Yannick Rey. Not only was I asked not to quote them, but I had to try to find the truth through careful phrasing.

And in the end, the outcome was worse than expected; the idea of a curtain-raiser between a selection of Australian players and France — or a game between the Kangaroos and the Chanticleers — had not even been contemplated, still according to the RLPA. The truth must lie somewhere in between.

But there’s a perspective I have always wanted to hear: that of the French Rugby League Federation itself, at the forefront of this issue.

As luck would have it, I found an interesting contact, Thomas Rouchit, who works for Athlead Agency, the agency appointed by the FFR XIII in 2025, after a call for tenders, to steer its digital communications, sponsorship strategy and press relations.

He agreed to answer my questions.

To be honest, I expected to be met with vague institutional jargon, but some valuable information was eventually forthcoming.

Regarding the main objectives of the French Federation, Rouchit replied: “The Federation’s short-term objectives are simply to enhance the major events of 2026 — the Spring XIII, followed by the U19 European Cup, and then the World Cup, of course — by demonstrating their sporting merit, providing the right information at the right time, and ensuring that a single, unified stream of information circulates both externally and internally.

“A Federation communication must be absolutely neutral, accessible to all, but above all factual. A communications department is not merely an element at the end of the chain, but a team that brings clarity to information throughout the entire chain.”

It is hardly overstating the case for the Federation to raise this issue of having a unified stream of information. Today, many Treizistes find information on social media networks, where rumours and bad news travel fast.

Stakeholders themselves sometimes post information about their own situations before it is validated by their organisation, or comment on pending decisions. At the very least, it must be said that few have received media training.

The upside is that it offers Treizistes a unique and refreshing authenticity. For us columnists, it is a goldmine of information.

Rouchit also provided concrete examples of the substantive actions undertaken by the Federation. To name just a few: “Visual clarification of the actions undertaken by the Federation (new logos for each championship since this season, creation of complete graphic charters for competitions, creation of the Para Rugby XIII brand and its registration with the INPI (equivalent of the IPO), the placement of the Federal identity in all documents produced by the FFRXIII departments, etc).”

However, another initiative will be of particular interest to the Francophile readers of RLW: “The creation of a supporters’ e-shop to purchase the French National Team kit and highlight the Federation’s partners. The Christmas collection with our official outfitter performed significantly better than expected, which motivates us to repeat the operation. Furthermore, the French national team jersey can be ordered and delivered to the United Kingdom.”

Interestingly, Rouchit was adamant when I asked him if there were blockages in France preventing the promotion of rugby league – my ever-present question.

“We must not deceive ourselves: the French and European public does not consider this sport to be a major sport. The Oceania region inspires dreams, England has worked well in recent years; we must draw inspiration from them without copying them. Our territories are different.

“To claim that there are blockages is false; to claim that the public is ageing is false — we observe this every day. The Federation’s communications department does not set barriers and allows itself to innovate in its communication and its actions related to the image of the sport in France.

“Younger content performs well in terms of statistics, which is encouraging.”

The FFR XIII media officer also provided some valuable figures, which are usually hard to find, including the viewership of the latest France-Jamaica game: “This question currently concerns only a handful of matches involving the French national teams. It is a topical subject that can either drag on or resolve itself overnight.

“The viewership figures for France versus Jamaica were good, and the market share was deemed very satisfactory by the France Télévisions teams. An average of 55,000 viewers on France 3 Occitanie alone, not counting France.tv online or replays; we have therefore very certainly reached a much higher peak.

“We also performed better than other programmes broadcast on previous Saturdays in the same time slot (3pm). The rugby league public turned up in large numbers.”

These figures seem coherent when compared to those recorded for the latest French derby between Catalans Dragons and Toulouse in March.

Guilhem Richaud of L’Indépendant noted: “Following the opening seven rounds, broadcast figures have been released, revealing an average live viewership of between 12,000 and 16,000 across the websites of L’Indépendant and Rugbyrama, depending on whether the match was home or away. To cap it all, Saturday night’s derby attracted in excess of 20,000 viewers.”

At the very least, French rugby league now has specific figures to measure the distance yet to be covered.

First published in Rugby League World magazine, Issue 520 (May 2026)