Élisa Riffonneau
| Date of birth | November 26, 2003 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Place of birth | Joué-lès-Tours, France | ||||||||
| Height | 165 cm (5 ft 5 in)[1] | ||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||
| |||||||||
Élisa Riffonneau (born 26 November 2003) is a French international rugby union player who plays as a hooker.
Biography
[edit]Early life and education
[edit]Originally from Joué-lès-Tours (Indre-et-Loire),[2] Riffonneau started playing rugby at the age of 6 with US Joué.[3][4] She briefly switched to handball, which she played for five years, before returning to rugby after missing selection for the Pôle Espoirs in Orléans.[5] Feeling more comfortable in rugby, she decided to pursue it seriously.[5]
Riffonneau attended Joliot-Curie High School, then Chateaubriand High School in Rennes, graduating with the highest honors.[6] Thanks to her status as a high-level athlete, she was admitted to Sciences Po Rennes, where she benefits from an adapted program allowing her to combine her studies and rugby career.[6]
Club career
[edit]After playing for Stade Rennais Rugby from 2018 to 2023,[3][7] Riffonneau joined the Ealing Trailfinders Women in England for the 2023–2024 season.[8][9] She was the only French international competing in the English league that season.[5]
In 2024, Riffonneau returned to France and signed with the FC Grenoble Amazones.[10]
International career
[edit]Riffonneau signed a professional contract with the French Rugby Federation in 2023.[11]
Riffonneau made her debut for the France women's national team in April 2023 during the Women's Six Nations Championship against Ireland.[12] Later that year, she participated in the inaugural WXV tournament in New Zealand,[5] where she scored her first international try against Australia.[13]
In 2024, Riffonneau was again selected for the Women's Six Nations Championship, playing in four matches[12] and scoring one try.[14] She was selected in the 2024 WXV tournament.[15]
In 2025, Riffonneau was selected for the Women's Six Nations Championship.[16] She played 4 out of 5 matches.[12]
References
[edit]- ^ "Elisa Riffonneau - France - Six Nations Feminin". www.sixnationsrugby.com.
- ^ "Une championne à la rencontre des enfants". Mairie de Joué-lès-Tours (in French). Retrieved 2025-04-27.
- ^ a b "Rugby. Élite féminine : Élisa Riffonneau « aime ce groupe de copines » au Stade Rennais". Ouest-France. 2023-02-25.
- ^ "Rugby - Tournoi des VI Nations féminin. Feleu et Gros confortées, Bourgeois première : la composition des Bleues en Irlande". Le Dauphiné libéré. 30 March 2023. Retrieved 2023-03-31..
- ^ a b c d "Six nations 2024 : Elisa Riffonneau, la plus anglaise des Bleues". Franceinfo (in French). 2024-04-25. Retrieved 2025-04-27.
- ^ a b "Élisa Riffonneau". Portraits d'anciens (in French). 2023-10-04. Retrieved 2025-04-27.
- ^ "Rugby : la Jocondienne Élisa Riffonneau quitte Rennes pour jouer en Angleterre". lanouvellerepublique.fr (in French). 2023-06-07. Retrieved 2025-04-27.
- ^ "Elisa Riffonneau". Ealing Trailfinders Rugby Club. 2025-05-03. Retrieved 2025-04-27.
- ^ "En 3ème année à Science Po, Élisa Riffonneau allie études et rugby en Angleterre". www.lequotidiendusport.fr (in French). Retrieved 2025-04-27.
- ^ "Rugby - Élite 1 féminine. Une arrivée et des départs évités... Ça frémit chez les internationales au FCG". www.ledauphine.com (in French). 2024-06-12. Retrieved 2025-04-27.
- ^ "XV de France féminin : Bourgeois et Riffonneau signent, les "déçues" du Mondial prolongées". rugbyrama.fr (in French). Retrieved 2025-04-27.
- ^ a b c "Elisa Riffonneau". Fédération Française de Rugby (in French). Retrieved 2025-04-27.
- ^ Bouet, Hugo. "FRANCE PUTTING EVERYTHING ON GREEN - RIFFONNEAU - Six Nations Feminin". www.sixnationsrugby.com (in French). Retrieved 2025-04-27.
- ^ "Entrée réussie pour le XV de France féminin dans le Tournoi des Six Nations 2024". Le Télégramme (in French). 2024-03-23. Retrieved 2025-04-27.
- ^ "XV de France féminin : Le groupe pour le Women XV". Fédération Française de Rugby (in French). Retrieved 2025-04-27.
- ^ "Six Nations féminin : les Bleues avec l'ancienne Rennaise Elisa Riffonneau pour affronter l'Italie". Le Télégramme (in French). 2025-04-17. Retrieved 2025-04-27.