Rugby-Pioneers

"Boy's Own Paper" plays rugby

Here's a large sample of rugby cover from Boy's Own Paper...

British Youth Litterature at its best ! No need for more comments...

Publication dates (by order of appearence...) : 1919, 1924, 1911, 1930, 1936, 1937 and 1945.

Do you know of other B.O.P. with a rugy cover ?

 

Sleeping Beauty

Let me narrate a cool story that let us uncover this rare and beautiful French international cap yesterday!

I was invited yesterday with four other blokes at the Stade de France to support my long-time favorite Stade Français in a "live twitt" contest vs the other Parisian rugby team Racing Metro, the modern successor Racing Club de France which was celebrating its 130 years on this occasion. 

As you can see, its was a perfect day (just forgetting the disapointing result of the match...): wonderful hospitality, champagne and nice folks...  (thank you Ludo for the VIP organization)

And here starts my story...

Discussing rugby history at half-time with fellow Stade Français fan Fred Ramel, we went into something like:

- You know, my wife's great uncle used to be a member of Stade Français in the 20s (*). When my wife's auntie passed away a few ago ago, I've found his member card. His name was Lucien Besset, member of French Parliement in the 30s...

- Great ! do you know about his rugby career, or has he left some memorabilia ?

- Actually no. But I have an old honour cap. I saved it before the family got rid of it, because for them it was worth nothing...

- Great move, do you know what kind of cap it is ?

- Well no, it's white, with a blue + a red ring. And a golden tassle as well. Any idea ?

- aaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrgggghhhh (kind of orgasmic cry that memorabilia collectors will understand), you're just describing an early French international cap, possibly the #1 item on my wish list (with a pre-ww1 French jersey, and a pre-ww1 rugby kit of Stade Français...)

A few seconds later (yes, Ludo has dedicated wifi for his guests in #StadedeFrance...), I was showing Fred photographs of his Great-Uncle who earned two caps for France in 1914. Below are the guys who played vs Poulton's England in Colombes on April 13th 1914 (13-39). Besset is standing in the middle, left to team captain and ball holder Maurice Leuvielle. That day Besset, playing inside center, converted two tries for France... without knowing that five of his teammates will soon die in the turmoil of WW1 and that his rugby career, like many of other promising players, has ceased that very day :-(

(*) The funny thing is that Besset had never been a member of Stade Français, except some kind of honorary membership after his sporting career like the document Fred showed me. Besset was a player, and then an official - President after ww2, of SCUF (Sporting Club Universitaire de France). Please read his full bio here on SCUF website, and check this team picture of the finalists of 1913 French Championship lost to Aviron Bayonnais. Fly half Besset sits on the ground, just below his captain and scrum-half André Theuriet. 

Cool story, isn't it ?

"Black & White" Scotch Whisky...

Another fine rugby advertising print !

This one comes from Scotland, home of famous "Black & White" whisky... and shows the dark-blue-almost-black Scot winger crossing the white English line...

Could anyone put a date stamp on this print ? it refers to H.M.King George VI, i.e.1936-1952... I assume late 40s, then not really sure that this picture belongs to Public Domain... let's hope that B&W don't mind...

 

International Football Caps

Just pick yours...

In Boy's Own Paper c1920.

Preview: "The Roses Match" (1893) by W.B.Wollen

Just a quick snapshot... a quality reproduction of one of the most famous English (*) rugby artwork: the "Roses Match" by William Barnes Wollen, showing action from a match Yorkshire (in white jerseys) vs Lancashire (in red and white hoops) played at Park Avenue in Bradford in November 1893.

It has yet to be framed!

Sean Fagan (rugbeia.com) has written a well researched article to bring this artwork into context... and to help you find the hidden "Ghost Player" in the painting... ! Please, don't wait to read "The Ghost in the Rugby Painting"...

"The Roses Match" now hangs on the wall of the Presidents Suite in the West Stand of Twickenham Stadium... limited access I'm afraid...

(*) possibly less famous than Robert Delaunay's "Equipe de Cardiff" or André Lhote's "Joueurs de Rugby"... Hey! I'm French ;-)

Edit : the World Rugby Museum at Twickenham also brings a very detailed story (yet unsigned... ) about the painting, its history and the controversy about the "Ghost Player"... another must-read! 

Enjoy 2012 !

Title says it all ;-)

And credit to Sean (rugbeia.com) for this candid - but so true! - motto that he posted a few days ago on his Twitter thread (@rugbeia) !!

A Photoshop (actually Gimp...) effort from this nice French advertising print c1925... Petrole Hahn (a hair lotion) was sponsoring and financing these posters that were given away for free to clubs, which were then able to print their own text in the lower part left blank. 

I hope that Twickenham World Rugby Museum won't bother me using one of their souvenir postcards (left) as template for my season greetings... I haven't been able to make a good scan or photography of my own poster... I probably have to frame it first...

Let's also note that actual colors are much more vivid (no filter and no flash for this snapshot)...

PS : interesting to see that the guys at "Petrole Hahn" have been pretty consistent in their support for rugby over time... their "ambassador" in France has been Biarritz international scrum-half Dimitri Yachvilli for a couple of years now... Indeed, Drimitri's hair is better than mine...

Football Punch

I just received this afternoon a copy of this wonderful poster print that will rank pretty high in the "Most Beautiful Advertising Rugby Print World Contest" (new concept, I agree...)

This print is refered to us by historian and rugby writer Ron Palenski in Otago who owns the original adversitising print.

Thanks a lot, Ron!

As Ron puts it "The football punch was produced by an immigrant Frenchman, Henri Pain, at Westport in the South Island of New Zealand" (nota: "Pain" in French translates into "Bread"...)

This Franco-Kiwi story doesn't seem to have any connection with this Manchester-based Duckworth & Co, another beverage company (alcohol ? soft drink ?) also producing "Football Punch"... but far less classy label, I admit... yet wearing old Manchester FC (rugby) and Lancashire colours! (no date, possibly 30s? 40s? 50s? any hint ?)

"Refreshing, Delicious and Restorative" for the first drink... a "splendid winter drink" for the other bottle... Make up your choice!

(private messages : Hi to Lorenzo in Manchester and to JC Pain in Tarbes, if they read me...)

Olympic Games 1924 - Naked Rugby Player

Stupid title, I agree... just to help Google and other search engines find this post... like this other "Erotic Rugby" from 2008 ;-)

This is a fine French postcard illustrated by E.Blanche, part of a series dedicated to Olympic sports... and quite hard to find (got this one in Italy...)!

Just to compare... below are the real guys who played 1924 Olympic rugby final (cf video here), René Lasserre for France, Colby "Babe" Slater for USA, and Welsh referee Albert Freethy - the first referee to send off a player in international rugby (it was All Black Cyril Brownlie v England, Twickenham, 1925)!

Sorry, they are not naked!

Jerome J. Rahilly "Rugby Football" 1904

I love old rugby books !

This one is an early coaching and training book written by Jerome J.Rahilly, captain of London Irish Rugby F. C., published in 1904.

Fifteen chapters... but only one illustration except this fine cover... I- History of the Game. II- The Style of Play. III- The Player. IV- Full Back. V- Threequarters. VI- Half Backs. VII- Forwards. VIII- The Captain. IX- Kicking. X- Passing. XI- Training for Football. XII- The Referee. XIII- Rules. XIV- List of Winners. XV- The Game in Other Countries.

Lot of technical stuff but also interesting dietary recommendations for rugby players..."Tea : consists of eggs, fish or poultry, toast or crust of bread. The crumb should always be toasted and the crust eaten stale, not new. Watercress is allowed, but very little if any butter" or "Spirit drinking I do not believe in, but beer does no harm, if taken at regular times, and with meals. It is indiscriminate or excessive drinking at odd times that does the mischief with the footballer".

Rugby, all over again...

Nice illustration... cover page from a c.1920 French rugby practise manual (by former Racing Club de France player and USFSA official R-W Magnanou)...

The cover also read (in French)  "Rugby makes athletes, but surely makes Men"

And ?

Nothing... just food for thought while waiting for domestic championships to resume in Europe, HCup to start and VI Nations Tournament to come back in February... all over again... straight forward to next Rugby World Cup in England in just 3 years and 10 months... 

 

I feel Australian today...

A Red jersey in an Australian magazine ("The Sydney Mail" May 1914)... that's my synthesis of tomorrow (I should say "today" down under...) RWC Bronze Final Wales v Australia...

Wonderful souvenirs from Sydney and Manly a few (pfff...) years ago...

Manly Oval in 1903... an old postcard sent from Sydney to Italy... Not related to rugby, but nice picture anyway !

 

Wales v France - Complementary Press ticket

Wales v France in a few hours in Auckland... I'm afraid I haven't got the right ticket :-(

Here is a complementary Press ticket to attend Wales v France on Feb.23rd 1929 at Cardiff Arms Park.

As the ticket reads "Admit .... Representative to Seats Reserved for the Press". Just name your newspaper: Western Mail, Daily Chronicle, Daily Telegraph, The Times... or maybe French sports newspapers Le Miroir des Sports or L'Auto... Live radio broadcast, which was first experimented two years before (cf this previous note about "old school medias") was there as well...

Thinking about early rugby journalists, it always reminds me of that photography of French journalists Marcel Martin and Fernand Bidault standing on the roof of Bordeaux Stadium to provide advanced statistical analysis (check that here).

I'm also sending some friendly wishes to R. French rugby journalist, writer and... pianist (!) who'll be sitting in a few hours in Auckland Eden Park Press Stand to cover this exiting semi-final... If I can make a private comment: Dear R. your daily "backstage" cover of the RWC was a treasure!!

I was not willing to comment the sporting side of that match (a disputed 8-3 win for the guys in red... all stats here thanks to @espnscrum ), but let's also pay a small tribute to these two classy gentlemen who played that day: Welsh winger W.Rowe Harding and French fly-half Yves du Manoir...

  

Enough said! We want rugby !

Arms Park Grand Stand, Cardiff, 1885

Disclaimer : this post isn't related to RWC2011... it's just to say "Hello" to my Welsh friends !

I was happy to find last week a good copy of this fantastic book about the early days of Cardiff RFC, one of the most prominent rugby club in Wales.

"The Cardiff Rugby Football Club - History and Statistics 1876 -1906" compiled by club secretary C.S.Arthur in 1907 goes into every possible details about the first 30 years of the club, from its creation to that famous 17-0 victory against Paul Roos' Springboks on January 1st, 1907 (Percy Bush, Gwynn Nicholls, Rhys Gabe...cf below)

Among tons of teams or action photographies contained in this book, I've been particularly pleased by this picture I'm posting today... it shows the inauguration of the Arms Park Grand Stand, on Dec.26th 1885... Officials, and both Cardiff and Liverpool teams are lining up... 

Large picture here.

As C.S.Arthur puts it "I was this season that the grand stand on the six penny side was taken away and the centre portion of the present Grand Stand erected. It cost £362 and was first use on Boxing Day, the match being Cardiff v Liverpool. It was considered of such importance that a photograph, here produced, was taken.

A steel rope was also put round the ground, in place of the hempen rope used in previous years, and footboards were also put down, so that the spectators should no longer be obliged to stand ankle deep in mud as they frequently to do in former years.
[...]
In consequence of the phenomenal success of the First and Second XV., there was a great influx of spectators, and the gate receipt amounted to the sum of £720 3s. 9d., and the members' subscriptions to £153 8s. 6d., and ground tickets to £36 15s.
The stand was paid for out of the season's income ; the expenditures in other directions naturally increased, with the result that there was a deficiency of £43 13s. to carry forward to the next account."

Note (a) to myself : let's work on the economics and business matters of early rugby clubs...

Note (b) to myself : let's also work on the architecture of these stadium, "cathedrals" of modern times...

 

 

 

Otherwise, I also have some Baines cards of these clubs (a Cardiff Baines card in colour, anyone ?)

Post-Scriptum: some "extras" about Cardiff b Springboks 17 - 0, Jan.1st 1907, at Cardiff Arm's Park... 

First, here is the official programme from that day in Cardiff... This wonderful piece of memorabilia belongs to Richard S. who kindly let me scan and share it... thanks a lot, Richard ! 

Second, I recommend these online resources brought together (by Dai Richards of Rugby Relics fame) for their digital "World Rugby Museum" about the 1906-07 Springboks tour...

I hope they won't mind me copying some of their text and pictures to illustrate... thanks in advance !

A combination of a boggy field and a Cardiff team on top of their form saw the Springboks thrashed at Cardiff Arms Park. Ankle deep in mud the Springbok forwards were unable to match their Welsh opponents in the tussle up front. Cardiff had given the All Blacks a fright a year earlier when they were the only team to score two tries against them. Their 10 - 8 loss to the men of New Zealand was their only defeat in a wonderful season. Led by the genius of Percy Bush the home team included one of the greatest centre partnerships of all time in Gwyn Nicholls and Rhys Gabe, the latter having lined up for Llanelly against the Springboks only 3 days previous. Nicholls it was who opened up the scoring with a marvellous try converted by his brother-in-law Bert Winfield. Gibbs then scored a try for the home team, Winfield missed the conversion but landed a penalty goal late in the half. An early incident saw both Biggs (Cardiff) and Millar (Springboks) leave the field, both returned but Biggs retired from the game at half time. Despite playing the second period with only 14 men against the wind the Cardiff men were able to hold the tourists and prevent them from scoring. They added two further tries through Williams and Gabe to win by an astonishing 17 point margin.  

 Pretty long post, isn't it... ;-)

"not so All Blacks" 1884

Here it is... at last... 2011 Rugby World Cup started again yesterday (NZ time...) in Auckland, and the whole rugby planet is thrilled about this long time expected competition... Let's honour RWC 2011 host by celebrating the very first New Zealand team in history.

Here are the 18 first "All Blacks"... 18 gentlemen who toured New South Wales in 1884 (quite successusfully indeed... won: 8 lost: nil... details here)... Full size picture here (source : A.C.Swan's "History of New Zealand Rugby Football" 1945) and there (NZ NatLib - lovely original photography!)

And now a couple of facts...

First, not to forget that this legendary "All Blacks" name was forged in 1905 only (so to say...) by newspapers during their famous tour in Great Britain, France and the USA (btw check these cool pictures of that tour gathered by the Rugby Memorabilia Society in 2005... )

Second, the 1884 NZ rugby kit was not black with a silver fern... but dark blue with a golden fern...

Left is H.Robert's grand son showing this very first fern... a treasure now kept by New Zealand Rugby Museum in Palmerston North... and a full story to be read on the Museum website here...

Below are two pictures of another wonderful piece of rugby memorabilia: an honour cap from the 1884 NZ squad that shows this dark blue colour... a unique kit as all following teams then elected to wear black jersey with a silver fern... official colours since 1893 thanks to the efforts of prominent Maori player Thomas Ellison.  

Historian Ron Palenski (Hello, Ron !) gives more details about it in this recent interview .

This cap will be auctioned in Auckland on next October 13th together with some other great pieces of international rugby memorabilia. A warm thank you to Hamish at "Art+Object" auction house for providing these pictures in advance... I'll give more details about the sale when the catalogue is ready... in the meantime, there's a teaser here...

Memorabilia fans will also love the signed photography of the 1905 All Blacks...

And now some rugby trivia to challenge your friends...

I've zoomed on the picture of the 1884 NZ team to introduce Thomas "Darby" Ryan (left) and Jack Taiaroa (right)...

    

Thomas "Darby" Ryan - All Black n°12 - was a fairly verstile gentlemen (his bio here). After his sporting career, he spent some time in Paris to study art... where he was picked to referee the final of French Club Championship in 1893 (first title of my faves Stade Français...)... HIs bio mentions that "he was also an accomplished pianist, an excellent trout fisherman and an expert yachtsman."

John "Jack" Taiaroa - All Black n°13 - is to be recorded as the first Maori international player in NZ (his bio here), and also the best try scorer of that 1884 tour. Sean Fagan (www.rugbeia.com and @rugbeia) has written a detailed story about Taiaora and of how Australian players were impressed by his skills and speed. 

Stay tuned, I'll be back... 

Art & Rugby at Sotheby's

Here are "Les joueurs de Rugby" (Rugby players), oil on canevas by André Lhote (1885-1962).

I'am afraid (no doubt... !!) that this great picture is not hanging at home... it was auctionned last May at Sotheby's New York : 2,546,500$... way, way above the auctioneer's estimates. And possibly the highest price ever for a rugby item ?

This wonderful artwork (large pic here) was painted in 1920 and first exhibited at "16eme salon d'automne" in Paris, 1923.

Interstingly, it comes out of a series of paintings dedicated to rugby... I've spotted two other versions : André Lhote painted this other rugby game in 1917... wartime opus... darker, and a bit more "cubist" in style... (exhibited in Musée de St Quentin, near Paris)

Lhote also donated this other cubist artwork - less interesting in my opinion - to French Musée d'Art Moderne - Centre Georges Pompidou (large pic here).

If you're interested about these classy connections between rugby and modern art, you could also catch up with these older stories discussing Robert Delaunay's and Angel Zarraga's great sporting artwork. 

 

PS : Tomorrow, France (Go! France, Go!) and USA will play the semi-final of FIFA Women's World Cup... here is a small tribute, displaying Angel Zarraga's "Las Futbolistas" (1922) and the cover of French newspaper "Le Petit Journal Illustré" by André Galland (1923)

 

 

Magee, Reichel, two rugby legends in Paris, 1899

No blogging since three months... shame ! shame ! shame ! too many projects... not enough time... but back to work now, there's a World Cup to prepare ! 

The European rugby season about to end... H Cup final (Leinster v Northampton) will start in a few minutes, and it's only a few hours since London Harlequins (luckily...) defeated my fav' Stade Français in Challenge Cup final yesterday night. Bad news, but it gives me a "connection" with this other game between teams from London and Paris... a few years ago...

Here is one of my favorite French rugby postcards... I like the quality of the photography (neat action pictures are rare... it was such a technical challenge at the time...) and the "modern" attitude of the player holding the ball...

The elegant handwriting "Paris, 29 Aug. 1901" (nota : before 1903, writing on postcards was only allowed on the front of picture side) was a precious hint to identify the place as the famous Parc des Princes, and the defending team as Racing Club de France. 

This said : no caption, no place, no date... and no possibility to know more about it until I was lucky enough to uncover the very same photography in this 2 pages article (signed D.Ropgoal... ha ha!) published in French sports magazine "Sports Illustrés" dated Dec.1899 (to read, in French here page 1 and 2 ). Bingo ! Happy to read that the visiting team was London Irish F.C.

  

Reading the article, I was surprised to discover that both teams were captained by some of the most prominent players from the XIXth century : Louis Magee (Ireland, Bective Rangers of Dublin and London Irish) and Frantz Reichel (France, Racing Club de France, SCUF)... Here are the teams posing....

Pharamond - Goudard, Rutherford, Collas, F.Reichel (cap) - Tauzin, Chastiané - Lefèvre-Hubert, Lefèvre, Aïtoff, Lesage, Bernstein, Sarrade, Ertzbeshoff, Muret

Mac Inerney - MacJoy, M.Dodd, Dinnismore, Forde - R.Dyas, L.Maggee (with two "g"...) (cap) - J.Boottman, J.Thunder, J.W.Walsh, J.Otway, Ruttven, Donovan, J.Murray, Hayes, J.Morson

Here are our "superstars" Louis Magee (Ogden's Cigarette card 1902) and young Frantz Reichel wearing first French colours (USFSA), captain of the first French side touring in England, 1893

 

I'm not going to give a full biography of these gentlemen... please read these former stories (Reichel or Magee) or read these good reports on Wikipedia (Reichel or Magee - you'll recognize the picture!)

Not to forget: In modern times, Louis Magee would play for Leinster...

 

Trivia : my upper picture is captioned "[...] L'arrière Français Pharamond arrêtant la charge de l'Irlandais Ruttven" (i.e. "French fullback Pharamond stopping the race of Irishman Ruttven"). Alexandre Pharamond (Rugby Gold medal @ 1900 Olympics in Paris, three times French Champion with RCF and Stade Français) was the owner of famous restaurant "Pharamond" named after his grand father in 1832... and basically unchanged in 2011...

Trivia again : the history section of London Irish website mentions that "1911 saw the club's first foray into Europe, to France for a game against Le Havre"... well, maybe not... 

 

This V(I) Nations Tournament sounds like 1930...

After two games, it seems that this 2011 VI Nations Tournament sounds like 1930 Tournament, at least from a French perspective... 2011 and 1930 calendar were the same for the French side... and so were results after two games : as this postcard reads, 1930 French team had a good start first defeating Scotland (7-3) in Paris (Stade de Colombes) and then managing a 5-0 away victory in Belfast... two victories in a row for the first time in French rugby history, before challenging England in Twickenham for the third game...

This team picture shows the French line-up before playing the Scots : standing (from l to r) Bioussa, Bigot, Ambert, Camel, Choy, Majerus, Gallia - sitting : Houdet, Gérald, Serin, Piquemal, Ribère cap, Magnanou, Baillette, Samatan.

Here is a snapshot of the game (in "Miroir des Sports")... Jean Gallia leading French forwards... (btw pls check that other interesting picture of Gallia at half-time)

Second victory in Ireland was celebrated in Paris, not only because it was France best start ever in the Tournament, but also because French coach Jules Cadenat - a famous prop in pre WW1 era, and also a wine merchant by occupation - had had the weird idea of bringing a barrel of red wine at half time... O tempora, O mores... This great illustration by André Galland in "Le Petit Journal Illustré" - actually not a sports newspaper- captures it all...

Bad omen for 2011 Frogs ? they've then played a serious game in Twickenham but lost  5-11 to England, which will eventually win the Tournament...

As a teaser... a fantastic view on the dense crowd in Twickenham South Terrace attending the game...

In fact, I'm not sure about the date (I can't remember from which old book this pic comes from... sorry for the credit...) but no doubt about "France"...

Here is one of the many photographies published by Illustrated London News after the game : French scrumhalf L.Serin scoring the first try of the game... more pictures in a fortnight after the 2011 game is played !

Haute Couture

Vivid colours.
Blue sky and blossoming trees
Pretty girl and handsome ruggers.
Spring 1914, the end of an era.

pre-WW1 documents are always sweet and sour... you can't detach them from the tragedy looming ahead...

This being said, this artwork is a great hand made "art deco" pochoir by artist Georges Barbier, published in April 1914 in "Gazette du Bon ton", a French classy and elistist fashion magazine. Quoting Wikipedia "The magazine [...] was available only to subscribers and was priced at a steep 100 francs per year, or $425.61 in today's money. [...] The magazine signed exclusive contracts with seven of Paris's top couture houses  so that the designers' fashions were shown only in the pages of the Gazette. The magazine's title was derived from the French concept of bon ton, or timeless good taste and refinement"

Full caption reads "Rugby - Costume tailleur de Redfern".

My two cents of fashion of "couture" history (Google is my friend...) : John Redfern from London is credited to have created the "tailor-made" - a lady's suit composed of a tailored jacket and skirt - by the middle of the XIXth Century. Later on, Redfern's couture house established branches in Paris and in the US.

QED ! Only an Englishman could name his work after our favorite sport !

And to "close the loop" with my previous comment about WW1, you'll be happy to know that Redfern designed the first women's uniform for the Red Cross in 1916... maybe this one below ?



(a Belgian postcard by artist James Thiriar, in favour of "Asile des Soldats Invalides Belges")

2011: Year of the All Blacks

My (rugby) predictions for 2011 are easy and simple: 2011 will be the year of the All Blacks!

The All Blacks have "rendez-vous" with the History of Rugby World Cup on Sunday October 23 in Auckland... and to tell you everything, I've just placed a bet on England as runner-up...

Well, we'll just have to wait for nine months ! In the meantime, let me share this "Rugby Almanack of New Zealand". Here is the 1935 issue, the very first of a long series... as this New Zealand rugby's book of records is now in its 76th edition. This first Almanack was edited by A.H.Carman, NZ rugby historian and prolific writer (and former referee) Arthur.C.Swan (cf that former post) and former 1924-25 All Black Read Masters (photo).

Inside pages show all possible records and stats about NZ rugby in 1934, along with fine illustrations such as this map of New Zealand with the portrays of the five players of the year, namely W.E.Hadley (Auckland), R.L.Clarke (Taranaki), H.T.Lilburne (Wellington), G.F.Hart (Canterbury) and J.Hore (Otago).



This Almanack had been regularly published with the same cover and different colours until 1965... when someone decided to change for a modern photographic cover of little interest... I've "borrowed" the following "patchwork" from rugbyrelics.com fame where you can also purchase some copies of this fine book (I'm quite sure that Dai won't mind this free advertising...)

(NB: I've got some memorabilia about 1935 All Blacks tour in Great Britain to share... another time...)

Father & Son (and some French cinema)

Rugby Trivia : could you name a family where father and son both were rugby internationals before WW2 ?

I knew about George Travers (25 caps for Wales 1903-1911) and his son William "Bunner" Travers (12 caps for Wales 1937-1949 and 2 caps for British Lions 1938), two outstanding Welsh hookers portrayed above (in J.B.G.Thomas' "Great Rugger Players 1900-1954" published in 1955). 

George Travers (left) was in this famous Welsh squad who defeated the All Blacks in Cardiff in 1905. He is seen to be one of the first specialist hookers, transitioning from a time when forward positions were not very much differentiated (cf these old c1900 "Mitchell & Kenyon" videos: forwards gather pretty instantly after a scrum is called, on a "first ready - first in" basis... )

Sean (now at rugbeia.com) also reminds us of George (1 cap, 1905) and Walter (4 caps 1938-39) Vickery. Interestingly, father and son both played in the same Welsh club (Aberavon) but were respectively capped for England (George) and Wales (Walter)...

Do you know of other such rugby families ?

And now for something completely (not that) different...

Actually this "Father & Son" trivia was meant to digress... and to draw a parallel with "Le Fils à Jo", a French movie released earlier this week in France... lot of rugby inside ! "Le Fils à Jo" written and directed by Philippe "La Guille" Guillard after his own novel brings us the story of Jo, widower and father of a boy aged 13 in beautiful south-west France (Gaillac). Jo was a local rugby hero, son and grand-son of famous local ruggers... and Jo doesn't understand why his son has little interest in rugby and doesn't want to follow the same route. This comedy will not compete for Golden Palm at Cannes (understatement...) but is funny, sympathetic and will please all fans of grassroot rugby... And it's not so often (if not ever...) that you'll find a movie directed by a rugger ("La Guille" French champion 1990 with Racing Club de France - do you remember these "Show-Bizz" guys with the pink bow ties ??) starring another rugger (hooker Vincent Moscato, French Champion 1991 et 1998 with Bègles and Paris, 4 caps...) now showing solid acting talents. Congrats !

Here is the teaser (in French only).

PS : it's not my first note titled "father and son"... the previous was here showing one of my favorite postcards (also teasing...)

edit Jan.17th : John G. is sending us this impressive list of 19 new names. Thanks a lot ! I believe that all "Northern Hemisphere" families are here...

ENGLAND

R H Birkett (1871 - 1877) and son J G G (1906 - 1912)

W H Milton (1874 - 1875) and sons C H (1906) and J G (1904 - 1907)

H J Wilkinson (1889) and son H (1929 - 1930)

G C Hubbard (1892) and son J C (1930)

W E Tucker (1894 - 1895) and son W E (1926 - 1930)

R F A Hobbs (1899 - 1903) and son R G S (1932)

H T F Weston (1903) and son W H (1933 - 1938)

 

SCOTLAND

H T S Gedge (1894 - 1899) and son P M S (1933)

J B Waters (1904) and son F H (1930 - 1932)

J H Bruce Lockhart (1913 - 1920) and son R B (1937 - 1939)

R A Gallie (1920 - 1921) and son G H (1939)

 

IRELAND

F Schute (1878 - 1879) and son F G (1912 - 1913)

W S Collis (1884) and son W R F (1924 - 1926)

"R O N Hall" (1884) and son C F G T Hallaran (1921 - 1926)

G Collopy (1891 - 1892) and sons W P (1914 - 1924) and R (1923 - 1925)

A D Clinch (1892 - 1897) and son J D (1923 - 1931)

S T Irwin (1900 - 1903) and son J W S (1938 - 1939)

 

"R O N Hall" was the nom-de-guerre of the Leinster player William Hallaran, father of C F G T. Hallaran senior played under pseudonym so that his family did not know that he was "wasting his time while studying medicine at Trinity playing rugby."

 

WALES

T Baker Jones (1882 - 1885) and son P E R "Baker" (1921)

Howell Jones (1904) and son E H (1930)