Lionel Beauxis made his international debut for France against Italy during the 2007 Six Nations Championship. He had earlier made the step up to professional rugby with Stade Francais, vying with Juan Martin Hernandez for the outside half berth.

Following his debut Beaxis was selected for France's squad for the 2007 Rugby World Cup. During the tournament he made six appearances, first as a replacement against Namibia and Ireland before securing a starting slot against Georgia, a game in which scored his first international try.

Beauxis retained the jersey for France's famous win over New Zealand at the Millennium Stadium in the quarter-final and also started as Les Bleus were knocked out of the tournament in the semi-final by England. He made a further replacement appearance as France were humbled 34-10 by Argentina in the third-place playoff.

Beauxis missed the entire international season in 2008 due to a nagging back injury, ruling him out of both the Six Nations and autumn internationals. In January 2009 he was named as the sole recognised fly-half in Marc Lievremont's French squad for the 2009 Six Nations.

He started the first game against Ireland at Croke Park, but despite an assured personal display France lost the game 30-21.

Scrum Staff January 2009