Highlights
- Cléa Ménier, 17, a back-row for Union du Bassin Marmandais Under-18s, has died after an injury in a match against Agen Agglo Rugby on Saturday 17 October
- She was treated at the pitch and taken to Pellegrin Hospital in Bordeaux, where French media report she died on Wednesday 21 October
- Neither her club nor the French Rugby Federation has disclosed the nature of the injury, though French outlets describe a violent blow to the head
- The federation has set up psychological support for her team-mates, coaches, referees and club members
What happened in the Marmande match
Cléa was playing for Union du Bassin Marmandais (UBM) in an Under-18s match against Agen Agglo Rugby on Saturday 17 October, at the Georges-Dartiailh stadium in Marmande, in the Lot-et-Garonne department. The BBC reports that her club described what happened as an "accident." Emergency services treated her at the ground, and she was taken to Pellegrin Hospital in Bordeaux.
She died there on Wednesday 21 October, five days after the match, according to French reports. The club and the French Rugby Federation (FFR) announced her death the same day.
What UBM said
Her club said it learned of her death "with immense sadness and indescribable pain." In a statement, it paid tribute to the emergency services and health professionals who tried to save her.
"This is a terrible ordeal for our club," it said. "We will get through it together."
How the French Rugby Federation responded
The FFR said the loss had "deeply shaken the entire rugby family." It sent its support to Cléa's family and loved ones, and its condolences to her team-mates, coaches, referees and everyone at UBM. French outlets report that the federation has set up a psychological support unit for those affected, and reports say it has promised that everything will be done to understand the circumstances of the accident.
What is still not known
Neither the club nor the federation has said what the injury was. French outlets, including L'Info.re, report that she suffered a violent blow to the head, but that detail has not been confirmed in the statements from her club or the FFR. The reports reviewed contain no further detail about the circumstances of the match.
Girls' rugby in France
Cléa played in a part of the game that has expanded fast. The FFR says the number of female licence holders reached around 70,000 in September 2025, 38% more than a year earlier, which it linked to the success of the national team at the Women's Rugby World Cup. The France team's semi-final against England drew an average of more than 3.8 million viewers on TF1, a record for women's rugby in the country.
For now, though, the focus in Marmande is on a family, a club and a group of teenage team-mates who lost one of their own.
