Rugby-Pioneers

"Rugby-Pioneers" wishes you a Merry Christmas !

And so does this XIXth century rugby greeting card that reads: "Well Held ! and may your Christmas be the same"

I am off for 10 days or so, traveling between Paris, La Baule, Brussels and Lille and I don't think that I'll be blogging till early January...

Let me give a warm "thank you" to all the visitors on this website : you are every month more numerous than the month before... a lot of interesting discussions and keen projects were initiated here in 2006... not to forget meeting "in real life" some great people !

2007 will be loaded with rugby events... that I will try to comment with a historical perspective...

As a rugby fan, I am very eager to have the Rugby World Cup kicking off next fall...

As a collector, my "graal" will be to find and purchase a French (Stade Français ?) representative cap... as I need a new one... (small picture... no kidding !)



Again, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year !


Technorati Tags: rugby

Captains Courageous, rugby print, 1928

"Captain Courageous : some international and other rugby leaders", a colourful rugby print published in 1928 in The Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic News".

Actually, its the first time that I find an English print portraying a French rugger, i.e. superstar winger Adolphe Jaureguy (from Toulouse, then RCF and Stade Français at the end of his career).

From left to right, the gentlemen pictured here are :

A.C. Wallace (Warratahs)

A. Jaurreguy (France) (but why this red jersey ??)

G.V. Stephenson (Ireland)

R. Cive-Smith (England)

D.Drysdale (Scotland)

C.D.Aarvold (Cambridge)

E.G.Taylor (Oxford)

Rowe Harding (Wales)

There is king size pic of this print available on Flickr here.

Artist MEL is known for several sets of sports cigarette cards. Here are some characters from "WILLS, rugby international", 1929.






Technorati Tags: rugby, print, jaureguy, mel, wills cigarette cards

Equipe de France, 1914

I have just found this great press photography showing Equipe de France before playing against England, on April 13. 1914 (a high res pic is available on Flickr)

They are at the Stade de Colombes, home of the Racing Club de France (cf the RCF letters on the door behind the players).

The guys at www.planet-rugby.com wrote a few words about this early "Crunch" last year, highlighting the terrible impact of WW1 on this generation of players ("Of the 30 players who played in this match, 11 were killed in World War I")

France scored first and were right in the game till half-time when England led 13-8. But England ran away with it in the second half and won 39-13.

England won the Grand Slam. France and Scotland did not win a match and they did not play each other because Scotland were angry with the behaviour of the Paris crowd the year before.

Ronnie Poulton scored four tries that afternoon. One of the great three-quarters of his day, he changed his name to Poulton-Palmer to inherit some money. He was shot by a sniper in Belgium in World War I. His last words are said to have been: "I shall never play at Twickenham again."

Cyril Lowe, a wing considered by some to be too small to play, scored a hat-trick of tries. He played in 25 consecutive matches for England and was at one stage England's most capped player. During World War I he was a fighter pilot. He is inspired a poem by PG Wodehouse, entitled The Great Day.

The crowd were vocal in their hostility to England.

There were no more matches for six years after this one, as World War I broke out..

Of the 30 players who played in this match, 11 were killed in World War I.

England: James Watson, nicknamed Bungy, who was drowned when a submarine sank the HMS Hawke on which he was a surgeon, Ronnie Poulton,  Arthur Dingle, a schoolmaster whose nickname was Mud, Francis Oakley, who was drowned as a submariner,  Arthur Harrison, who fought in the Battle of Jutland and was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross for his part in the action at Zeebrugge, and Robert Pillman, who was a brother of Cherry,

France: Marcel Burgun, who was shot down, Léon Larribau, Emmanuel Iguiniiz, Felix Fauré, and Jacques Conilh de Beyssac.

Full stats of the game are available at scrum.com

The team line-ups were :

France: J-L. Capmau, M. Burgun, J-J. Conilh de Beyssac, J. Larribau, F. Forgues, F. Faure  , J. Caujolle, E. Iguiniz, R. Lacoste, M-F. Lubin-Lebrere, L. Besset, M. Leuvielle    (Captain), G. Pierrot, P. Bascou, G. Andre   

England: J.E. Greenwood, F.E. Oakeley, A.R. Sykes, F.le S. Stone, W.R. Johnston, H.C. Harrison, C.N. Lowe, S.E.J. Smart, J.H.D. Watson, R.L. Pillman, R.W. Poulton (Captain), L.G. Brown, A.J. Dingle, A.L. Harrison, W.J.A. Davies

I also have a photography of the game in poor condition but worth being displayed...



Technorati Tags: rugby, france, rcf, ww1, colombes

Stade Français vs RCF, P&T almanac, 1920

Another French "Postes & Telephones" almanac, dated1920,  with a fine colourful rugby picture ! (check this other one as well...)

This one shows top Parisian teams Stade Français (in dark blue) and Racing Club de France (in light blue stripes).

A nice picture... but I am far from being sure that this could be a real game (strange stadium, indeed ...or could this La Faisanderie, training camp of the Stade Français in the middle of Parc de St Cloud... ?)

Technorati Tags: rugby, stade français, rcf, almanac

Working class rugby, 1913

These days, I am very much in the social aspects of rugby history...

Here is a print titled "Autour des Usines Michelin à Clermont-Ferrand " (around Michelin factories in Clermont-Ferrand), dated 1913, promoting Michelin (the famous tyre manufacturer) social model. The print shows Michelin workers playing rugby, in the middle of a 2000 people community organized around sporting facilities and the "coopérative du personnel" (workers'  grocery shop).

The caption above the aerial picture reads : un cliché pris par M.Marcel Michelin en ascencion libre à bord de son ballon le "Bibendum" (picture taken by M.Marcel Michelin from his airship "Bibendum" )

Clermont-Ferrand is a high place of rugby in France. ASM (currently 2nd of French Pro League... behind Stade Français...) has been playing continuously at the highest championship level since... 1925

NB : there is a hi-res copy of this pic on Flikr here.

Technorati Tags: rugby, print, michelin, asm

Rugby crowds in France, late 1920s

Last week, I gave two lectures about French rugby history (nope, it's not my full time job anyway... it remains an amateur contribution...). There are not much theories or texts in my lectures as my guideline is to discuss about old rugby pictures.

Among other things, I have made a point about the rise of violence in French rugby in the late 1920s... not so easy to illustrate, but I believe easy to understand where you look at these over-crowded stadiums...

The upper picture shows the crowd attenting a semi-final of French championship in 1929 in Bordeaux. On that day, Quillan (a smalltown in the lovely Pays Cathare... and 1929 fleeting champion ; a team that focalized all issues about profesionalism and violence in rugby...) defeated Agen (Miroir des Sports, may 1929)

The other picture (L'Illustration, April 1930) shows policemen rescueing people at Stade de Colombes (France - Wales, 0-11 for Wales) after some riots among the audience. In his article, the journalist emphasizes the brutality of the game (several players injured) and the violence of the crowd as it is reported that 20,000 people (!!) with no tickets were trying to enter the stadium... (full article - in French - here)...  The Welsh won't be returning to Paris before... 1947 as French rugby will be banned by the IRB the following year... (thanks John for referring this picture... I bought it...)