Toulon (AFP) –

Published on: 02/10/2026 - 08:56

International scrum-half Baptiste Serin has not hidden his ambition to play in the 2027 World Cup in Australia with the French XV, his “objective”, he assured in an interview with AFP this week.

“I try to be the best possible with RC Toulon to hope to be in the French team, that’s always my goal and it will be until the World Cup,” said the 32-year-old No.9 (50 caps).

Present during the 2019 edition in Japan where he played three matches including the quarter-final lost to Wales, Baptiste Serin was not part of the French group in 2023 for the World Cup in France.

“I missed the 2023 World Cup when I was perhaps at my best level so I have a lot of regrets about that. At the beginning, I wanted to stop completely after the 2023 World Cup but the fact of not being there pushed back that deadline. So yes, I want to be part of the next one,” he explained.

“Afterwards, it will be over for me. That’s for sure,” he added.

Although he did not wear the blue jersey this summer, the Toulonnais was on all the match sheets for the last Six Nations Tournament, won by the XV of France. A presence which gave him a taste for the selection again after a year and a half of absence.

“Be there at the right time”

“I made a lot of effort to come back and it went really well, I put my name back in the rotation a little and I had a lot of fun. I had the impression of reliving my first selections with a lot of desire and enthusiasm so obviously, like any player, I want continuity,” confided the scrum half.

But to be part of the list for the Nations Championship, which coach Fabien Galthié should unveil in October, “you have to be good with the club, above all,” recalls Serin.

“And then, I have competition in my position. Players were relaunched this summer when I was not there so choices will necessarily be made but I have not changed my ambition. Now, I don’t talk about it, but we will have to be there at the right time,” he says.

If captain Antoine Dupont remains the undisputed No.9 of the Blues, Bordelo-Béglais Maxime Lucu embodies the ideal understudy and stays one step ahead of Baptiste Serin and the young Nolann Le Garrec or Baptiste Jauneau.

The French XV will face Fiji (November 7), South Africa (November 13) and Argentina (November 21) as part of the Nations Championship, a competition in which the Blues already have two victories and one defeat.

© 2026 AFP

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