Rugby-Pioneers

Scotland v France... 1931

Easy blogging... France just defeated Scotland this afternoon in Murrayfield (18-9)... and I'm displaying some memorabilia of an earlier similar game... in January 1931...

Here is the programme (disclosure : I don't collect programmes... but a few exceptions...) of the game... a poor 6-4 victory for the Scots, but no try that day... (nb : 4 points was the "price" for a drop-goal at the time). Inner pages show various Scottish teams (1912, 1930) and a previous game v Wales earlier during the 1931 season...  all pictures are available at Flickr

The teams were captained by W.N.Roughead (London Scottish) and Eugène Ribère (Quillan)... Some of future French rugby league stars (Jean Gallia, Max Rousié, Robert Samatan) were also there... (larger pic here - with the programme of music and bagpipes...)



I have a (small) picture of that game... actually a W.D.& H.O.Wills cigarette card published in 1932... (larger pic here)



By the way, I was also looking for an opportunity to display this dynamic print by André Galland, cover of French newspaper "Le Petit Journal", January 1922... it seems that the Scots were giving hard times to French winger Adolphe Jauréguy...
 
Again, a great rugby artwork... but too large for my A4 scanner!

Here we go again!

"6 Nations Championship" starting tomorrow... Here we go again!

I've got the same issue every year... how to match "live" sports with my rugby memorabilia... ?

Not always easy... just consider these fine Baines cards : there're just perfect to introduce England, Wales (tomorrow in Twickenham), Ireland or Wales... but how come Mr Baines couldn't anticipate and design some French or Italian cards as well ??

OK Computer (as someone said before...)... quick fix...not jealous anymore...

    

  And time for serious rugby now !

Night (Rugby) Drinks...

Another fine example of rugby advertising for alcoholic beverages ("apéritif") in France in pre-WW1 era... (large pic  )

This time, wine-maker Louis Koester in Cette (now Sète) on the Mediterranean seaside (where my Grandmother was born.. but that's another story...) went one step further : he just called his product "Rugby" !

Interestingly, local archives (Archives de l'Hérault) explain that Louis Koester also was the founder and president of the Regional Rugby Committee ("Comité Régional du Languedoc"). QED!

By the way, times are getting increasingly "digital"... these Archives de l'Hérault also provide some nice online memorabilia about local rugby  ("Rugby, terre d'Hérault"-in French)... Well done! And congratulations for sharing such documents (though I'm not exactly sure of their licencing policy....)! For instance, here are below a commercial letterhead from the same Koester, the original charter (1912) of Cette Rugby Club and a fine poster print advertising for another - weird, but that was tonight topic... - Kola Rugby...

 

"Union Jack" jersey in Toulon... probably announcing Jonny Wilkinson and the soon-to-come 6 Nations Championship...

Wanted : Women Rugby Memorabilia!

The 6th Women's Rugby World Cup will be played next August in England (official site )... RFU Museum in Twickenham is working on a temporary exhibition about women rugby and is searching for memorabilia (newspapers, photos, jerseys, cards, trophies, etc...). I'm trying to arrange some contacts here in France, but I'm sure that they would appreciate additional inputs (especially for material outside Great Britain)... Just drop a comment or a mail to contribute or share ideas !

As far as French rugby is concerned, I have to admit that I don't know very much about its history and that my memorabilia is pretty poor... This being said, the history of French Women Rugby is tied to the game of "Barette", a passing game - kind of hybrid between rugby and touch rugby (can someone post the original rules, it will help my undestanding of that code.. thanks !)

A first "root" of this French Barette brings us to the region of Bordeaux at the end of the XIXth century, where a phisician, Dr Philippe Tissié, wrote a code of "Barette" in 1899 (known as "la Barette Aquitaine") which quickly spread among local schools. It seems that girls were also playing... But, say, I'm not sure of the sporting interest of that game... (help ! a picture and the rules please !)

Another form of "barette" - say, rugby as we (almost) know it... - was played in France in the 1920s. It originated at Femina Sports, the leading omnisport women club in Paris (cf wikipedia - in French) and was reported to be sponsored by SCUF and former international player (5 caps between 1908 and 1913) André Theuriet. Below is Thieuret with Femina Sports ("Les Hirondelles") captain Miss Cubaret, and "Cadettes de Gascogne" (Bordeaux) captain Miss Dubarry... nice berets indeed !

 

Picture credit to INSEP - French National Sports Center - Please also check a dozen of other very interesting pictures of 20s women rugby from the same series here... and watch this 1928 movie - Femina again - showing various phases of a women rugby game (rugby starts at 0'30 - Credit to British Pathé).

Again, I'd like to get a copy of the rules (could someone help ?)... apparently 10 or 12 a side teams playing a vigarous passing game - no rucks, no mauls - but throw-ins and scrums... I assume that tackling below waist wasn't allowed...

Women rugby was popular enough for F.F.S.F. (Fédération Féminine Sports de France - French Union of Women Sports) to organise a French Championship... teams from Paris, Bordeaux, Lille as above (picture credit to sports historian Joris Vincent in Lille - also cf this older post)... the Championship medal below is a new find for my collection...

From another standpoint, let's also share this fine comic print by cartoonist Fabiano, published in Fantasio (kind of French "Punch Magazine") in 1925...or remember this other "erotic" print...

 

Caption reads  "Rugby Féminin - Enfoncez la mélée ! commande la capitaine... Mais comme son ami la regarde, elle se refait une beauté" (Women rugby - Break up the scrum ! the captain orders...).

To be honest, Women football was even more popular in the 20s, for instance touring to England or welcoming Dick-Kerr's Ladies F.C. in France in 1920... Actually, rugby and football team usually belonged to the same clubs... here are the same Paris Femina Hirondelles and Bordeaux Cadettes de Gascogne on the cover page of French newspaper "Le Petit Journal" in November 1923... (painting by André Galland... too large for my A4 scanner...)

 

Definitely a long post ! Please don't forget... Wanted : Women Rugby Memorabilia!

Don't sever the postcards, please !

I've recently found this French postcard... the kind of candid rugby illustrations that I enjoy collecting... and a perfect fit with that other similar card purchased last year (and displayed here last April)



The weird thing about it is that these two cards, purchased from two different dealers at different times, originally come from the same hands... both of them were sent to a (young ?) gentleman in Tunisia (Souk El Khemis) on New Year's Eve 1909, as shown by the backs of the cards... Fine coincidence to have brought these cards together again a hundred years later...

(larger pics available here and there on Flickr)

Celebrating 100 Years of Tournament

 

"6 Nations 2010" is looming ahead ! three more weeks to go, yet squads are being announced these days...

"2010" shouldn't ring any bell for our British and Irish friends, but "2010" will be a special "vintage" for France (hey ! I'm French...): we'll celebrate the 100th anniversary of France being invited to play against all Home Unions, i.e. the start of the "5 Nations Tournament"

France entered into the international arena in January 1906 against Gallaher's All Blacks, and proved to be convincing enough so that (English) Rugby Football Union accepted to play in Paris in March 1906. Then things moved on slowly... England (away in Richmond - first game in Blue jerseys...) again in 1907... Wales (away) and England (home) in 1908... Wales (home), Ireland and England (both away) in 1909... and finally Scotland accepted to join other Home Unions in 1910... The opening game of the 1910 Championship was this Wales - France played on January 1st 1910 in Swansea...

This French side (above, large pic here), captained by Gaston Lane, gathers 9 players from Paris (6 from SCUF, 3 from Racing CF... none from Stade Français!), 3 players from Bordeaux (Bruneau, Massé, Hourdebaight),  and young men from Toulouse (Mayssonié) and Lyon (Mauriat, Martin). Left on the picture is Cyril Rutherford, an Englishman, a former RCF player then in charge of international affairs at French Rugby Union.

A pretty unexperienced French side (6 new caps) ... which courageously challenged one the most competitive team from this era... Without any surprise, Billy Trew's team (feat. J.Bancroft, Dick Owen, etc... large pic here) stroke a 49-14 undisputed victory (10 tries to 2!)

Let's be honest... Home Countries paid little - if no... - attention to these new "exotic" games against this new "exotic" guest... In first years, games were often played during the week, in front of limited crowd (i.e. 4000 that day in St Helen's) and not always with the most competive teams... France had to wait until the 1920s (Crabos, Jaureguy, Ribère...) to deserve some sporting respect...

After the match, Wales fullback Jack Bancroft was said to pronounce this cruel - but false... - prophecy "You are good fellows, you Frenchmen, and your rugby will go on improving. You may some day beat England at Twickenham and Scotland at Murrayfield and Ireland in Belfast or Dublin, but never, while there is coal in our mines, will you win in Wales..."... Indeed, Bancroft got it right untill 1948...

  

My pictures come this newspaper report in "Le Plein Air"... French readers (and others...) could get it here...

Red & Black, Stade Mayol, 1923

Toulon ! a high place of French rugby... tons of stories about tough players and passionate fans (yes, Christian, this post is for you...)... today, an amazing team of ruggers from all around the world (Joe van Niekerk, Jonny Wilkinson, Sonny Bill Williams, Felipe Contepomi, etc... managed by Philippe St André)

My postcard (large pic here) shows brand new Stade Mayol in 1923 - a great stadium built in downtown Toulon in 1920-22, and named after French singer Felix Mayol who financed it (*) - hosting a game between Toulouse "Champion de France" wearing Red & Black colours, and Toulon "Champion du Littoral" (**) wearing... Red & Black colours...

A story (though not confirmed...) explains that Toulon had elected such Red & Blacks colours to mimick Toulouse... the team that was "ruling" French rugby after WW1... Some even say that Toulon first rugby kits were provided by the Stade Toulousain, hence the same jerseys...

The game played on the postcard on May 20th 1923 is most likely an exhibition, played just one week after Toulouse managed to win French championship vs Bayonne on May 13th... a poor 3-0 game played in Colombes under heavy rain... All stats (in French) are here at finalesrugby.com. Let's notice a very impressive list of international ruggers on Toulouse side (Jaurreguy, Bordes, Galau, Lubin-Bebrère, Bayard, Bioussa, Larrieu) and let's also notice that this game was the last game of Bayonne legend Harry Owen Roe as fullback, aged 38... Below are the famous "Toulousains" in 1923... in Red & Black (larger pic here)

 

Back to Mayol, you could also notice a building behind the stands - on the right - partly showing one the most famous French advertising prints from all times : "Ripolin Brothers"... not red, not black, but advertising for Ripolin colour paints...

credit Elliot Miesse

Let me finish with a not-so-serious question : did the crowd in Toulon sing the "Pilou Pilou" in the 1920s ? For those who don't know, "Pilou Pilou" is a kind of "war cry" sung (shouted...?) by the crowd in Toulon at the beginning of each game... the words are loosely inspired by All Blacks hakas, whereas the chorus goes like :

Parce que Toulon - Rouge !    Because Toulon - Red!

Parce que Toulon - Noir !        Because Toulon - Black !

Parce que Toulon - Rouge & Noir !    Because Toulon - Red & Black !

Sing it here ... with a 50,000 crowd last year vs Toulouse (in Marseilles, where Toulon sometimes exports its top games...)

(*) as Mayol wrote in his biography "Or, à Toulon, où la jeunesse est particulièrement active et vigoureuse, nous n'avions pas le moindre terrain utilisable... Seul demeurait un vélodrome désaffecté, où nul n'allait jamais, qui ne servait plus à rien et qui me paraissait s'ennuyer autant que nos aspirants sportsmen... Alors, mon Dieu, c'était tout simple, j'ai acheté le vieux vélodrome ! J'y donnais moi-même le premier coup de pioche, le 26 juillet 1920..." (this quote and picture : credit to RCT website)

(**) "Champion du Littoral" meaning Champion of Mediterranean seaside vs Marseilles, Montpellier etc...

NB : shame on me... I can't refrain from linking to one of the worst-but-famous French song from the 80s... Jeanne Mas "En Rouge et Noir" (in Red & Black)... shame !!

Blwyddyn Newydd Dda !

 

Gelukkige nuwe jaar - سنة جديدة سعيدة - Feliç Any Nou - 新年快乐 - 새해 복 많이 받으세요 - Happy Nytår - ¡Feliz Año Nuevo - Hyvää uuttavuotta - Frohes neues Jahr - Bonne année - Ευτυχισμένο το νέο έτος - שנה טובה - Sona - Buon anno - あけましておめでとう - Feliz ano novo - An nou fericit - С новым годом - Gott nytt år - สวัสดี ปี ใหม่ -  Yeni yılın kutlu olsun - ia manuia le tausaga fou  - kia hari te tau hou !

I'm back and wishing you all the best in 2010! 

My greeting card demonstrates the best of my computer editing capabilities ;-) I've modified this wonderful coverpage of "C.B.Fry's The Outdoor Magazine" published in December 1905.

PS: this magazine contains tons of rugby news and tips... and a detailed coverage of 1905 "Colonials" All Blacks tour... to be shared another time !

PPS: I was surprised to see that this illustration is signed by "Tom Browne" (zoom here), i.e. the famous cartoonist who left us some fine rugby postcards... ?

 

Greeting card avaible full size : in English or in French - Tom Browne's comic card also

The World oldest rugby videos... Pure Magic!

My Christmas presents ! IMHO here are the most amazing and moving rugby videos around... three early rugby games - 1901 ! - recently discovered and restored by the British Film Institute (BFI) ... and nicely shared on YouTube for the pleasure of all rugby memorabilia fans ! (see below for more details on the "Mitchell & Kenyon Collection")

I will not comment these videos more than needed : they all come with a quality and self-explanatory commentary... and bring a true experience of rugby in Edwardian times, both on the field and in the stadiums... I love that !

Above are "magnifiscient animated pictures" (sic) from Hunslet v Leeds (February 16th, 1901), feat. Albert Goldthorpe (and here...) and brothers... below is Salford v Batley (November 2nd, 1901) feat. Jimmy Lomas scoring a try...

 

These videos show Northern Union teams (like most of my favorite Baines cards above...). So, it's basically Rugby League (as N.U. will be renamed in 1923)... playing with 15 players !

Actually, these games are played under 1899 N.U. rules... whereas the number of players in a team will be decreased to 13 later in 1906. Another interesting technical point under these rules is that every tackle is immediately followed by a scrum (fairly wild scrums, indeed !).

The video below - Oldham v Swinton (January 12th, 1901) - enters into these kind of technicalities... enjoy!

A few words about the Mitchell & Kenyon collection :

For around seventy years, 800 rolls of early nitrate film sat in sealed barrels in the basement of a shop.

Now miraculously rediscovered and restored, the Mitchell & Kenyon Collection is an amazing visual record of everyday life in Britain at the beginning of the twentieth century.

It is the most exciting film discovery of recent times and promises to radically transform British film history.

All sports movies (football, rugby, cricket, etc...) have been gathered by the British Film Institute in a DVD called "Edwardian Sports" on sale here.

Again, I warmly thank this institution for sharing this memorabilia !

There's also some geek stuff : the Mitchell & Kenyon Collection on Google Earth ! (just click on this .kmz file if you have Google Earth installed - otherwise download Google Earth here before) .... Then fly over Edwardian England... Magic ! 

Last, but not least... I've borrowed the small Swinton Baines cards from John / ovalballs.com . Thank you Master!

Party time !

Great and friendly party last night to celebrate the 40th birthday of one the coolest man on Earth (Fonzie scale) !

Let's stay tuned and share this French illustration from the 30s... Actually the programme of a Dancing Hall (Barragn's Club) in Romans... inside pages were enabling women to book their dancing agenda in advance ("Carnet de Bal" in French... no idea in English...)

   

My document comes from La Drôme, a disctrict from South East France, between Rhone, Provence and the Alps, with a strong rugby culture - hey, Sebastien Chabal was born there !

Rugby action below is a postcard showing two local teams competing in 1922 : Sporting Club Royannais (St Jean en Royans) vs Valence (both teams now playing in Federale 2 i.e. 4th national level). High res picture here.

 

"Down goes the Thermometer !"

Brrrr... it's getting damn cold here in Paris... "Down goes the thermometer, Down goes Dandy Shandy" claims this 1910s lithograph advertising sign for "Dandy Shandy" soda drink feat. a rugby player...

Made from Sarsaparilla, Nettles and Dandelion (salsepareille, orties et pissenlit for my French readers ... )... could this be tasty ??

Anyway, a fantastic print (large pic) !

Post-Scriptum : I don't know about you, but here "sarsaparilla" is famous to be the preferred food... of the Smurfs

(picture credit to Cheezelsmurf @ Flickr)

Little Silver Rugger

This Little Silver Rugger takes care of some of precious rugby books and caps in my cabinet... A nice item crafted in Germany c1900.

Actually, this picture doesn't give it justice... it doesn't look like a skull "in real life"

Books from left to right :
- Le Football (Rugby), E.St Chaffray & Louis Dedet, 1902
- Le Football Rugby, Jacques Dedet, 1922
- Le Football (Rugby), E.Pontié, 1905
- The Modern Rugby Game, Gwyn Nicholls, 1910
- Rugby Football, Henry Vassall, 1889