‘It was a very eventful year,” says Léo Barré as he reflects on the 12 months that saw his career move up a gear. Having announced himself to the Top 14 the previous year, the young Stade Français full-back burst onto the Test scene in the latter end of last year’s Six Nations.

He would go on to lead his club to second place in the regular season. While Barré won all six of the Tests he started with France during 2024, results at the Stade Jean-Bouin have fluctuated. The Parisians only registered five wins in the first half of the campaign, with Barré accepting his share of the blame.

Read more: France Six Nations squad

“I haven’t been up to the task this season,” he says. “I’ve been making too many mistakes and I haven’t built up my confidence in the way I’d have wanted. That’s entirely down to me.”

Results have been more consistent with les Bleus. Having been part of France’s youth set-ups from the age of 16, last year’s graduation to the senior team was long in the making. “It was a very emotional year, with my first cap and the tour over the summer. There were wins, and one defeat in Argentina, but I’ve gained a lot of experience. Every time I’ve been with the French team, I’ve grown as a player.”

The 22-year-old went on to start in two of France’s autumn Internationals, with Bordeaux’s Romain Buros earning a surprise first cap against the All Blacks. With the wins over Japan and Argentina, the Versailles native earned something of a reprieve from his club’s stuttering start to the campaign. “It was good to have that break. It allowed me to start enjoying myself on the pitch again.”

Léo Barré: How did he break into the French team?

While coach Fabien Galthié felt that Barré’s display against Japan “left some room” for competition from Buros, the Stade Français man did bounce back in the match against the Pumas, notably setting up Gabin Villière to score in the first half.

Despite getting his first taste of Galthié’s sometimes unforgiving squad management, Barré is now firmly a part of the pre-2027 cycle. Having been brought into the France fold midway through the 2024 Six Nations, Barré’s introduction to the Test stage was a sudden one.

Read more: France and England history

In the wake of three unconvincing performances amid a post-World Cup hangover – they had just drawn at home against Italy – Galthié had opted to rejuvenate his squad ahead of the trip to Cardiff. “I wasn’t necessarily prepared for it; it all happened so quickly that I didn’t have time to fully realise what was happening,” Barré recalls.

There were few nerves on display at the Principality Stadium, though, as the visitors stormed to a 45-25 win. The debutant would prove vital in both his kicking and his imposing aerial presence. A week later, Barré was instrumental in helping France edge England at the Stade de France on the final day.

He set up Nolann Le Garrec to score what was later chosen as World Rugby’s Try of the Year before going over himself to spark a second-half comeback, and was named Man of the Match. “It’s kind of paradoxical because I felt as though I hadn’t played as well as I did against Wales. I made a fair few mistakes.”

While he did struggle on his first couple of high balls, the full-back was pivotal in turning the game around for les Bleus. “I felt the same thing in the match against Wales. Every time I pull on the France shirt, I get that same incredible feeling. Beating a legendary team like England was a great memory and it allowed us to end the campaign on a positive note.”

It’s not as though he was an unknown quantity to England, though – Barré had already announced himself across the channel with a sensational end-to-end solo try in a defeat by Leicester Tigers a few months beforehand.

Leo Barré of France scores his team’s ninth try during the Guinness Six Nations 2025 match between Italy and France (Getty Images)

He would pierce through the England defence in similar fashion for Le Garrec’s try, a 60-metre effort that involved eight French players in the same phase. In beating Marcus Smith with a dummy, Barré provided the decisive moment to send the Breton on his way to the line.

Léo Barré on the Six Nations

Facing England at Twickenham this year, however, will be another matter entirely. While Barré did not play in the surprise lose to England, he did for-see the game being a potential banana skin. “They have a young squad with a lot of new players, especially in the back-line. I still think that Ireland are the strongest team in the tournament, but you can never take ‘Le Crunch’ lightly.

“England came close to beating Australia and New Zealand in the autumn, they might even have deserved to win those matches. They’ll always be one of the tough teams to play against, even more so at Twickenham – the older guys know all about the atmosphere there. It’ll be very exciting if I get the opportunity to be involved.”

His memories of ‘Le Crunch’ extend further back. “I was at the Stade de France in 2010 when we beat England to win the Grand Slam,” he recalls.

Barré hails from a family of fly-halves. His grandad and father both played for Versailles, and the latter also played for the Racing youth teams, so Barré was immersed in rugby early on. “I used to watch all of France’s matches at the bar that my family owns in Versailles; we would all meet there on the weekends. I was watching them from a young age.”

Beyond the blockbuster clashes, the full-back is well aware that each opponent in the competition is a threat, even if he is yet to play against three of them. “Nowadays every team is difficult to play against. A lot of us young players in the squad have never been involved in some of these fixtures. Facing Ireland at the Aviva Stadium and England at Twickenham – these are the dream fixtures that we used to watch growing up, so there’s definitely an extra motivation to try to play in them.”

France’s emerging generation went into the 2025 Six Nations with a full year of senior experience to draw upon. The likes of Le Garrec, Nicolas Depoortère, Émilien Gailleton and Barré himself may not all displace the stalwarts of the Galthié era just yet, but they are all increasingly becoming fixtures of the wider France set-up.

Related: France head coaches: a history

“The desire will be the same as last year. I need to be performing well week in, week out before I can start thinking about playing in the Six Nations again,” says Barré. “If I do get called up, I know there’s stiff competition in my position and that others are emerging, so I’ll need to be playing at a high level. That’s how I’m looking at the tournament; it’s not as though I’m expecting to be playing.”

Léo Barré on his full back rival Thomas Ramos

The competition is fierce. The direct comparison within Galthié’s squad is with Thomas Ramos, who is similarly adept at playing across the back-line. Barré only has effusive praise for the Toulouse full-back, who is fast closing in on the all-time France points record. “In my position, I don’t think there’s any better player in the world. I’m really happy to be able to learn from him.”

Ramos, arguably France’s standout player in 2024, impressed while deputising for Romain Ntamack in November. “I’ve learned a lot from him in terms of how he approaches and analyses games. In modern rugby, the 15 and ten positions are quite similar,” Barré says, having started his own career as a fly-half.

“One difference is in terms of decision-making, since it’s the fly-half that has the final say on the pitch. But there are a lot of tactical discussions between him and the full-back as well.” Ramos, he says, is a prime example of that in-game management. “He’s a leader, he shows it out on the pitch. I’ve learned from him through his leadership and versatility, and it’s very enriching to be playing alongside him day in, day out when we’re with the national team.”

Leo Barré hugging Thomas Ramos (Getty Images)

Barré had a great opportunity to prove doubters wrong about his position in the French team against Italy, where he started at full-back in round three of the 2025 Six Nations.  He absolutely took it and shone in a team full of stars.

The player scored two tries and was the spark France needed in a shaky start to the game. The huge 73-24 win over Italy has moved France to second in the table with two matches remaining.

Barré speaks equally highly of Gaël Fickou, who is currently returning from injury. “His longevity is incredible, he’s a role model for a lot of players. I met him when I was younger, while he was playing at Stade Français. He impressed me straightaway in terms of the advice he gave us and how open and accessible he was to everyone.”

Away from the Test stage, Barré hopes to restore Stade Français’s fortunes and he’s tied his future to the club until 2029. “The long-term project is to bring the club back to the top. Speaking as a Parisian, it’s not a great feeling to see Stade Français in the lower end of the Top 14 table.

“It’s not just about me, though, it’s about the team as a whole. I think of people like Paul Gabrillagues, Lester Etien, Julien Delbouis, Sekou Macalou – guys who come from Paris and want to move the club forward. I believe in this project and don’t see why we can’t have another season like last year’s in the future. We just need to get the momentum going again.”

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