Rugby-Pioneers

College rugby in France : Lycée Lakanal, 1902

Rugby started to widespread in France c.1890 when Parisian pupils and students discovered it in their scools or colleges (thanks to English teachers...). Young men's interest in football-rugby was strong, and first competitions were organised immediately (cf this other print, dated 1890).

This postcard, dated 1902, shows the boys playing rugby in the park of Lycée Lakanal, a reputed college located in Sceaux near Paris (cf Lycée Lakanal website or wikipedia - in French). The game doesn't seem very well organised, but very "living" however...despite of the necessary "freeze" for the photographer...

(full size picture available at Flickr)

Technorati Tags: rugby, postcard, lakanal

Rugby in Switzerland, 1883

Rugby in Switzerland in the XIXth century... is that a joke ??

This is a Swiss newspaper print, dated 1883, where caption reads "Le foot-ball des Anglais, à Lausanne" (English foot-ball, in Lausanne)

I know fairly well this quit city of Lausanne on the Lac Léman (at the background of the print)... but I had never heard of a British community there (any clues, dear readers... ?)

Thers is a significant crowd watching the players, but it seems that local sportsmen never went enthusiastic about our favorite game...

(full size pic here)

Technorati Tags: rugby, print, switzerland

Rugby cartoon, Brennus and Franquenelle, 1911

This is an original cartoon (I should be able to identify the cartoonist later...). No date, but obviously 1911.... Sorry for the stains, but it tells a nice story... (full size picture here)

It shows Charles Brennus, godfather of French rugby and member of French Rugby Union (USFSA Rugby), urgeing Antoine Franquenelle (Vaugirard) to wear his jersey and join his 14 teamates of Equipe de France vs Scotland on Colombes pitch, 1911...

Only 14 guys because Vareilles of Stade Français was missing for unknown reasons... on his side, substitute Franquenelle missed the train to Colombes at St-Lazare and was late... Franquenelle arrived just in time to participate to the first victory ever of Equipe de France, which managed to surprise an over-confident (?) Scottish side... France beating Scotland 16-15 in a breathtaking suspense...

Actually, Franquenelle could also have missed that historical game... Team manager Allan Muhr, who was desperately searching for a valid player, had spotted Laffite from Bordeaux in the crowd and asked him to play... Laffite was removing his military uniform (he was then a sergeant in Paris) when Franquenelle reached the stadium...

I really like pictures when they tell a story... !

Please also check these photos (captain Marcel Communeau and the boys... ) that I published last year ... asking for the colour of French socks... !

Technorati Tags: rugby, equipe de france, brennus, franquenelle, communeau

French rugby print

This is the cover page of French sports magazine "La Vie Au Grand Air", illustrating a rugby match between Bordeaux and Lyons.

I am struck by this composition... it reminds me of some classical religious artworks... you could nearly feel the players' pain or sorrow... war-time influence, I suppose...

After WW1, Pierre Laffite's "La Vie Au Grand Air" (unlimited source of pictures for this website...) turned into a monthly and elitist newspaper (glossy paper, arty illustrations, coloured prints) for a while... then became more confidential (because of the competition of sports coverage in daily and weekly popular newspapers)... hence pretty rare for collectors nowadays !

I am sad to say that this print doesn't belong to me... I was stupid enough to be away from home when this print was auctioned on eBay a couple of weeks ago... luckily, the new owner was kind enough to send me a scan - thank you Steve !

PS : I am currently selling a very similar cover print with a base-ball topic (base-ball in a French magazine ?? very exotic, indeed...)... if somebody is interested, just follow the link to eBay...

Technorati Tags: rugby, print, la vie au grand air, base ball

Paris - London, 1911

A great (real) photography showing Parisian best players gathered for a one time competition against London in 1911.

Here is a larger pic that will help you identify Paris coat of arms...

Sitting in the middle are RCF captain Gaston Lane and Stade Français captain Marcel Communeau.

Actually, this picture doesn't belong to me as it was found in the SCUF archives by Mr Jean Hospital, a former SCUF player who published in 2005 a book about the history of his club "Le Scuf - 1895-2005 - l'Autre Rugby"  (on sale @ Amazon : follow the link)




Technorati Tags: rugby, paris, scuf, communeau, lane

Italian rugby comic postcard - late 30s

Title says it all... at least an Italian postcard that is not about Mussolinian propaganda... (full size pic here)


Technorati Tags: rugby, postcard, italy

Boy's Own Paper, March 1911

(full size)

Boy's Own Paper was - title says it all... - an English magazine for English boys... and possibly an unlimited source of nice rugby pictures for collectors like myself... full of nice covers, plenty of related and illustrated articles, and sometimes wondeful coloured plates such as these "Famous English Football Players 1881" (from which I have made my banner) or these "college rugby jerseys" showing about 100 different rugby colours...

Enjoy...


(full size)


(full size)



Technorati Tags: rugby, boy's own paper, print

"Probables vs Possibles" - December 1913

I am late at posting new stories here... too many things to do at the same time... Anyway.... I am currently gathering pictures about Bayonne -  the leading French team before ww1 - where the Basques set a new standard of what handling and passing should mean to French rugby...

In my searches, I have found this cartoon - December 1913 - portraying some French international players (Bayonne captain Fernand Forgues, Jean Sebedio, Geo André...) and some French rugby officials (Charles Brennus, Allan Muhr) gathered in a "Probables vs Possibles" match before a selection committee in Colombes.

Follow this link to get a full size picture ...

You could also read here (in French) the full story that comes with the cartoon (in "Plein Air", Dec.1913): page 1 , page 2

Here are the teams :

And finally.... I don't know much about cartoonist Van Hasselt, but I already published this fine print from him

Technorati Tags: rugby, print, forgues, sebedio, brennus, muhr, van hasselt, equipe de france