Rugby: French federation and league agree on players' availability

PARIS (Reuters) - The French rugby federation (FFR) and the league (LNR) have reached an agreement over the players' availabilities for this autumn's test matches, both the FFR and the LNR said on Thursday.

According to the agreement, 31 players will be made available for the six matches France are scheduled to play, although one player will not be allowed to feature in more than three games.

Les Bleus take on Wales in a friendly test on Oct. 24 before hosting Ireland for a rescheduled Six Nations match on Oct. 31.

Fabien Galthie's team will then face Fiji, Scotland and Italy in the Autumn Nations Cup with the Finals weekend match being played on Dec. 5.

"(The agreement is) a balanced and supportive agreement that takes into account, on the one hand, the health of the players,

and on the other hand, the sporting and economic stakes for the French team, the FFR, the LNR and the clubs in the exceptional context of the health crisis," the FFR and the LNR said in a statement.

(Reporting by Julien Pretot; Editing by Pritha Sarkar and Toby Davis)