Rugby in Indochina, 1909

Sometimes, old postcards can reveal strange stories... I had never imagined that rugby had been played in French colonial Vietnam before WW1... This postcard, sent to France by one of the players, describes a game played in Hanoï in 1909, but the the teams remain unidentified.

I don't know if there is a connection, but I also remember that E.Bourcier de St Chaffray, captain of Stade Français in 1892-93 and co-author of this great "Football Rugby" book, was named civil administrator in Tonkin in 1895... I will check the B.O.S.F. (Stade Français weekly newspaper) and try to find out whether this gentleman was still in Hanoï in 1909...

(full size picture here)


Identificateurs Technorati : rugby, postcard, hanoi, bourcier de st chaffray