"a good kick a football-rugby" by Paul Dedeyn, Racing Club de France... Fine cover of French sports weekly magazine La Vie Au Grand Air, December 31st 1903...
Two years later, this gentleman earned a cap as prop -yes, it was a time when prop were kicking... - for France inaugural match vs New Zealand on January 1st 1906... His only cap ! (stats as ESPNscrum)
Let's celebrate the new Champion of England 2013: "Leicester, England's brightest rose"...
These kind words aren't mine, but John Baines'... the famous late XIXth/early XXth cards publisher from Bradford... (click to enlarge)
Center of the card is Bobby Lewis, wearing a "1892" cap (Leicester or Midlands ?). I'm afraid that the web seems to be silent about this gentleman :(
This Bobby Lewis was probably a teammate of this E.Redman - what a modern attitude! - Leicester captain in 1895... here proudly wearing a nice "NS" i.e. "North v South" cap (representing North in 1892-93) in this wonderful "Famous Footballers" book
PS: and why not also share this small piece of Leicester memorabilia... a Churchman's cigarette card from the 20s showing the club colours and tie... That's the day, or never... :)
Yesterday was "ANZAC Day", when people in Australia and New Zealand commemorate their soldiers who fought in WW1 and WW2
I've found this interesting illustation in French newspaper "Excelsior" dated November 20th, 1916 in the middle of WW1 turmoil... the headline reads (in French...) "Australians, Warriors and Sportsmen" whereas the caption indicates "This curious snapshot was taken during a rugby match in England recently played between two teams of Australian soldiers (Anzac). We know that our allies have called 'Anzac' the Australian and Zealander troops that took a brilliant part in the Dardanelles campaign.")
Some research (thanks a lot Sean!) shows that this was a charity game - known as the "Pioneer Exhibition Game" - held at Queen's Club in South Kensington on October 28th, 1916 to raise money for British and French Red Cross. The game was played in front of an estimated crowd of 3,000 which included the (then) Prince of Wales (later King Edward VIII) and King Manuel II of Portugal (source wikipedia)
Actually, it was not rugby - my newspaper was misleading! - but Australian Rules... two ANZAC units forming a 18 players team, most of them coming from main VFA/VFL clubs: Melbourne, Geelong, Fitzroy, St Kilda, Collingwood... ("footy" history is quite complicated...cf wipedia again...)
Australian War Memorial has kept two great pictures of the teams... both of them showing wonderful jerseys !
Here is the "Australian Training Units" team, led by Captain (Capt) Chaplain Charles Julius Perry (played for Norwood) wearing a red jersey with a "giant" kangaroo...
And here is the "Third Australian Divisional" team, led by Lieutenant (Lt) Bruce Moses Farquhar Sloss (played for South Melbourne) wearing a blue jersey with an "giant" Australian map... and winner of the game by 4 goals and 12 behinds (36 points)...
Lets also notice that this game was organised by Australian Olympic swimmer Lt Franck Beaurepaire (hey, a French name!)... 7 Olympic medals won in London (1908, aged 17), Antwerp (1920) and Paris (1924)!... and later Lord Mayor of Melbourne in 1940...
For the record - and to have their names being remembered - let me also list the players.
Third Australian Divisional team: Identified, but position unknown, are Lieutenant (Lt) Bruce Moses Farquhar Sloss (played for South Melbourne), captain (killed in action 4 January 1917); Lt John Brake (University); Dan Minogue (former captain of Collingwood); C Willis (South Melbourne); L Little (Melbourne); William Isaac Sewart (Essendon); J Pugh (Launceston); H M Moyes (St Kilda); P J Jory (St Kilda); C Lilley (Melbourne); L E Lee (Richmond); Cyril Louis Hoft (Perth); L Martin (University); R Alley (Williamstown); H James (Richmond); B H Mills (Brunswick); J Foy (Perth); Lt W Orchard (Geelong)
Third Australian Divisional team: Identified, but position unknown, are Captain (Capt) Chaplain Charles Julius Perry (played for Norwood), team captain; John Thomas (Jack) Cooper (former captain, Fitzroy) (later killed 20 September 1917); PC Trotter (Fremantle); J Donaldson (Essendon); H Kerly (Collingwood); J Hoskins (Melbourne); H Boyd; S C Martin (University); H C Cosnvi? (Association); C Armstrong (Geelong); J Scullin (South Fremantle); Malfield ( Fremantle); T A Paine (Northam; E Beames; J Bower (Port Melbourne); McDonald (Essendon); Lieutenant Colonel Jackson (South Australia); H Moore (South Australia). Field umpires: Coporal Gray and G Barry.
Boundary umpires: T S Hewitt and E J Watts. Goal umpires: Lieutenant H Olsen and S M Keen.
All the details of the game are known because a programme of the match was published at the time, and now kept at National Library of Australia as "Pioneer Exhibition Game Australian Football : in aid of British and French Red Cross Societies : 3rd Australian Division v. Australian Training Units at Queen's Club, West Kensington, on Saturday, October 28th, 1916, at 3pm" (record here). This record indicates that this 12 pages programme was richly illustrated, including this "Sport and War - The advantage of the High Mark" by Will Dyson that I was fortunate enough to find on the web in a working document from University of London (credit below)... Nice illustration indeed!
Edit 28/4: Sean has uncovered a British Pathé video showing that game and ceremony - magic and moving! Here it is...
Credit to Australian War Memorial for team pictures and names of players - and many thanks, mates, for sharing it under CC-BY-NC 3.0 AU licence!
Credit to Carol Mills, Univeristy of London, for his/her paper on "Expatriates Australian Black & White artists: Ruby and Will Dyson 1909-1919"
100 years ago, Aviron Bayonnais (Bayonne) became French Champion for the first time of its short history.
That day, April 20th 1913, the team led by its captain Fernand Forgues and its Welsh playmaker Harry Owen Roe crushed its Parisian opponent SCUF 31-8 (detailed stats at finalesrugby.com - thank you Eric and David) showing 'stunning brio, amazing audacity and, most of all, staggering skill' as Racing Club de France captain Gaston Lane put it...
Please read Huw Richards' excellent article on espnscrum.com about how the players from Bayonne managed to blend the best of Welsh rugby tactics with their native Basque skills,
As Huw explains: "It was, in other words, a foretaste of the way the best French players and teams were to amaze and alarm opposing players and fans over the next century - far from the only French tradition, but the one for which they have been most recognised and admired."
The early days of Aviron Bayonnais, Forgues, Roe etc... are one of my favorite topics already discussed here ("La Methode Bayonnaise") or there ("The Welshmen from France", "Aviron Bayonnais 1914") over the past five years or so...
So here's another portfolio of pictures to celebrate this 100th anniversary!
First is French sports weekly "Plein Air" (April 24th 1913) showing the winning team on its cover. Click to get larger pictures of inner pages (page1 / page2) with match details.
News magazine "Le Monde Illustré" brings superlative comments about the Basque team (sorry, in French!) (large pic)
Here are the players as portayed in "Plein Air" the week before (April 19th)
Some team postcards of Aviron Bayonnais:
I like this last card very much... signed by Fernand Forgues on the front and by the all team on the back... nice memorabilia!
He's a great find submitted to us by fellow rugby historian and collector Stuart Quinn in Hull. It's a lovely and colourful illustrated card (larger pic here) depicting a "North v South" game in the late 1880s or early 1890s... It shows no print on the back nor info about publisher or origin... Any input welcome!
Funnily, this nice illustration of dramatic rugby action doesn't show an actual "North v South" game... as it is copied from this other reknowned artwork by Messrs Overend and Smythe (below), i.e. England v Scotland played in Edinburgh in 1886. A mural reproduction of the original hangs in the Library of the Scottish Rugby Union at Murrayfield... (and I don't remember who I should credit for my modern repro...)
Rev.F.Marshall's reference book "Football - the Rugby Union Game" indicates that this yearly game started as early as 1874 (played in Rugby on Januay 20th - drawn, nothing scored !).
Stuart and I would be very happy to know more about these "North v South" games. History, background, anecdots... any document around to be shared here?
Quickly browsing my pictures, I can only share a few press clippings (illustrations or photos) relating the "North v South" game in 1900, 1903 or 1893 below (larger pic here), i.e. a fine engraving by S.T.Dadd captioned "North v South at Manchester" and published in The Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News Dec.23,1893. For the records, North won by 2 goals 2 tries (16 points) to 3 tries (9 points) that day...
Incidentally, one of the etchings shows England and North player Dickie - The World's Wonders - Lockwood (full bio)... another opportunity to enjoy these fine Victorian rugby cards!
PS: New Zealand has been also playing "North v South" games since 1897, but that's another story !
Parc des Princes, March 22nd 1906 : France and England playing the first match of a long lasting rivalry...
This was only the second international game for France, a few months after having hosted an inaugural game vs Gallaher's All Blacks on January 1st... a game which proved that Froggies could be a decent opponent for England. Yet, the match was played on a Thursday: RFU was keen to play in Paris, but not ready to modify the agenda of clubs games traditionally playing on Saturdays!
This game opened the way for other Home Unions to play vs France, i.e. Wales in 1908, Ireland in 1909 and at last Scotland in 1910.
On my photography (click to enlarge), both teams are friendly mixing up outside the changing rooms of the old Parc des Princes. French players wear for the first time a light blue jersey, embroided with "USFSA" (the predecessor to FFR) blue and red rings, while English players show their traditional kit.
Final score 8-35 (2T 1C - 9T 4C) is anecdotical... full stats are here...
Some famous faces of pre-ww1 rugby are here like Adrian Stoop (above, left), John Raphael or Vincent Cartwright for England... Gason Lane (capt.above, right), 18 years old Marcel Communeau or Emile Lesieur for France.
The three referees, Louis Dedet and Cyril Rutherford (yes, an Englishman in Paris...) for USFSA, and George Rowland-Hill for RFU were also to "godfathers" in their respective rugby unions...(below a double page in La Vie Au Grand Air, March 1906)
Two rugby "trivia" about this game if you want to challenge your friends!
Let me first notice that no less than three foreign players were playing in this Equipe de France: Englishman William Crichton and Welshman Ernest Lewis, both playing in Le Havre, and American Allan Muhr (upper left corner below), first try scorer for France in the history of all "Crunches"... later a famous official of USFSA and FFR who died in a nazi camp in 1944...
Let me also mention that three Black rugby players were selected for this "original" Crunch, Georges Jérome (bottom right corner) and André Verges (bottom left corner) both from Stade Français for France, and James "Darkie" Peters (upper right corner) for England... all of these three gentlemen being the first Black sportsmen to earn an international rugby cap for their respective countries.
And now waiting for the 97th France v England next Saturday in Twickenham!! (*)
(*) Since 1906, England leads by 52 won, 37 lost and 7draw... but since WW2, France leads by 35 won, 34 lost and 6 draw... If Englands wins next saturday, both teams will be "leveled" over the past 70 years of rugby...
The present Ladies Stand was completed. The Ned Gregory Scoreboard was built.
Rugby matches were played at the SCG in this period..New Zealand played Combined suburbs XVII in 1884 at the ground. This was the first overseas tour. New Zealand played 3 matches at SCG in 1897 (year after the scoreboard was built) ...so we can assume the new scoreboard was used. Will search for images
Michael Fahey
I tackle the jobwith the greatest of gleeIn touch with Good Luckat all Points may you beA jolly Good Run through a Scrum-ptious Yule...May you Take all your Chancesand Score a Fine Goal
Here's my tribute to Dubai 7s being played today... a full set of photographies + tournament program from Middlesex 7s played at Twickenham in April 1934, eventually won by the Barbarians...
No comment... Enjoy!
NB: please read this old note for some insights into the birth of 7s rugby in Scotland (Melrose 7s...) and the history of Middlesex 7s (since 1926)
"The British & Irish Lions" are in the news today as Warren Gatland has been appointed today to coach the team that will travel to Australia next June 2013 (cf list of fixtures incl. 3 Test Matches v Australia) in a much awaited tour... just 125 years after these twenty-one pioneers from England, Scotland and Wales proudly posing on board of a steamer leaving England in March 1888... (in "Illustrated London News" - March 1888 - better scan here).
Let's gather a few facts and pictures from that inaugural tour!
The team was captained by England international Robert Seddon while the other capped players in the team were England and Salford Tom Kent, England and Blackheath Andrew E.Stoddart, Cambridge and Wales W.H. "Willie" Thomas (1)
Though a private venture, this first "football" tour down under is seen as the first "Lions" team in History, and the opening of a long and rich history of international tours between the two hemispheres
As Wikipedia puts it:
"The 1888 tour was organised by two professional English cricketers, Alfred Shaw and Arthur Shrewsbury, but they could not obtain patronage from the Rugby Football Union who refused to patronise by the tour, though the RFU was happy for the tour to go ahead, provided there was no infingement of the rules of amateurism."
Rev. Frank Marshall's "Football the Rugby Union Game", published in 1892 (avail.online in full at archive.org - great!), shows several nice pictures of the "pioneers". The tourists played in red, white and blue hooped jerseys and white shorts. Click here for a larger photograph + the names of all players...
"Shaw and Shrewbury's Australian team - June 25, 1888"
This team photograph was shot on June 25,1888...i.e. according to the 1888 fixture list somewhere between Adelaide and Melbourne (ok, just 800 km!!). Coincidentally, the 2013 Lions are expected to play in Melbourne on the same June 25. vs Melbourne Rebels next year...
Edit Sept.18: The team photo above, labelled June 25, 1888 - was taken at the East Melbourne Cricket Ground - then the home ground of the Essendon Australian Rules Football Club. Please read John Williamson's comment below for more details.
The players - and the promoters! - were "flexible" enough to play under different football codes to ensure public interest... and financial return! Lions Rugby website details:
"The oddessy began in New Zealand seven weeks after the team sailed from England on March 8, and the tourists went through the islands unbeaten until falling to Auckland in the last of their nine games there.
Their first four games in Australia were also won and it took a change of code to trip the visitors up. Their next 17 games – and a further one later in the tour – were played under Australian or Victorian Rules.
These matches were staged purely for the benefit of the organisers’ profits as they were guaranteed to draw far bigger crowds than union contests. Remarkably, the British team actually won six of these, before reverting to the 15-man code and concluding the tour with an unbeaten return to New Zealand for the final 10 matches."
BTW 2013 Lions Tour has a Facebook page where some fine memorabilia is displayed, such as this wonderful ticket ("Lions" v NSW in Sydney - August 4th 1888)
A few days after this game in Sydney, things went tragically when team captain Bob Seddon drowned in an accident while sculling on the Hunter River in NSW. He had ventured up river alone, and his team mates Anderton and Stoddart found him dead some time later.
The captaincy was then passed to Andrew Stoddart, a future England rugby captain and Wisden Cricketer of the Year. I will not elaborate much about this remarkable sportsman who captained both England Rugby team (1890-93) and England Cricket team (1894 and 1896/7) but just share some pictures...!
These three cigarette cards (Will's and Ogden's) belong to my friend Richard S. as part of his collection of "double capped" sportsmen... while the etching below - captionned "Mr Stoddart passing the ball" - was published in 1895 in the "Portraits of Famous Footballers" portfolio. It reads "An international of many seasons. Very fast and collared determinedly. A good drop kick, but in his latest apparences scarcely came up to expectations. Played last for South v. North, and against Wales and Scotland in 1892-93"
Andrew Stoddart, no mystery, also had its own "Baines Card"... as well as other protagonists of the tour such as Tom Kent and Jack Anderton (2). These ones come from my own collection but I have little doubt that many other players (esp. from Northern Counties) also have their own..
This last Baines card is displayed at the RFU World Rugby Museum in Twickenham among other memorabilia treasures from the 1888 tour... "In Memoriam Bob Seddon" (poor picture with my phone, I'm afraid... )
(1) nota : this list of four international players is suggested by Wikipedia... in plain contradiction with the ILN article which mentions Harry Eagles (Swinton) instead of Tom Kent... This said, there's no H.Eagles on ESPN stats database and Lions website indicates no England cap for Harry Eagles... Another case where you shouldn't believe what's printed in the newspaper !! Historical researches are a maze... and XIXth "journalists" were sometimes lazy...
(2) I'm not 100% sure that the Anderton featured on my Baines card is "Lion" Jack Anderton. Any hint ?
Edit Sept.10: My friend Richard S. from RFU World Rugby Museum has identified my Anderton Baines card to be Charles Anderton...
"I am almost certain that the Baines card you have posted for Anderton is for the English international – Charles Anderton (1868-1959) - and not Jack Anderton from Salford who toured with the 1888 British team to Australia but did not play for England. The proof lies in a comparison between two photographs – (i) C Anderton in the Lancashire side photographed in Marshall’s book (1895) on page 379; (ii) J Anderton in the team photo of the 1888 tourists printed in any book that refers to the tour.
There is a good photo of Jack Anderton on page 78 in the book “Football’s Forgotten Tour” by John Williamson."
Edit Sept.14: RL collector and historian Stuart Quinn has kindly sent me these two Baines cards to complement this story with two more "tourists". Thanks a lot!
Sam Williams: 170 games for salford between 1881-1890. only managed 50 of the 52 games on the 1888 tour! 4 caps for Lancashire 1886-1887. First Salford player to be selected for the Norths v Souths representative match.
Harry Eagles: Salford pack leader at under 5 feet 7 inches (1m70)! Played 265 times for Salford between 1881-1893. Appeared in all 52 matches of the 1888 tour! Played 18 times for Lancashire 1886-1890. Played in all 3 north v south clashes between 1887-1890.
Here is Lieutenant (- then Admiral...-) Sir George Hamilton d'Oyly Lyon, KCB (3 oct. 1883 - 19 aug.1947) who was (cf Wikipedia ) a distinguished Royal Navy Officer, a first-class cricketer and rugby player who played for Portsmouth, United Services and England.
Lyon was capped twice for England as fullback, vs Scotland in Inverleith (march 1908) and, as captain, vs touring Australia in Blackheath (jan.1909)... two defeats, I'm afraid!
His full stats on scrum.com are here.
This print was published in "The World" c1910. If anyone knows the exact date or issue ?
Say, just for the pleasure of sharing a nice picture, a caricature by Sir Leslie Ward aka "Spy" - there are not so many coloured plates in my old books and newspapers !
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 ?
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...
Just pick yours...
In Boy's Own Paper c1920.
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!
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...
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...)
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!
I have three favorite "research" topics when digging into the history of early French rugby.
First, getting to know about all these foreign (say mostly British... but not only....) players who played in France at the turn of the XXth century and helped French rugby to catch up with Home Countries. Second paying a tribute to all of these young men - famous or not - who died during W.W.1. and third, covering everything related to Stade Français (yep, that's "my" team...)
And here is a photograph bringing together these three "research" topics in a single story...
Here are the guys from Stade Français, in large red and blue stripes, on February 9th 1913 before a match lost 6 - 16 to SCUF (large pic here). I was lucky to have the names of the players written on the back... from left to right:
standing : Roux, Redelsperger,Rodary, Charpentier (cap - intl), Russel, Combe (intl), Mourouval (intl), Podevin (intl), Etienne, Communeau (intl)
sitting : Vogt, Piron, Cratunesco, Beaurin (intl), Kelly
Let me zoom and pay a small tribute to John James KELLY, sitting on the right.
J.J. KELLY appears on the "WW1 Roll of Honour" of Stade Français among the 30 rugby players killed during the Great War.
Accoring to Commonwealth War Graves Commission, J.J. KELLY died, aged 26, on April 12th 1917 in the Battle of Vimy Ridge. He was Captain in the Leinster Regiment (2nd Bn). He was the son of John and Jane KELLY, Cork... an Irish gentleman then !
KELLY was the editor of "Continental Daily Mail" in Paris and apparently well known in the press community, as per this notice published in Le Figaro (April 29th 1917).
And say, I suppose that you're not made Captain before turning 26 (+ Military Cross) if you don't show outstanding qualities...
I'll be happy (hey, Irish friends !!) to know more about KELLY's sporting career before moving to France. Where did he play? Or any other information about him? Or about his life as a soldier during the War? (err... not easy to google for a "Kelly"...)
This said, I can also think of a few (far-fetched...) connections between J.J.KELLY and 1905 New-Zealand captain David GALLAHER... apart from being two Irish-born rugby players...
First, let's remember that the name "All Blacks" was first forged by the Daily Mail, which was a very active sponsor of the 1905 tour of the "Colonial" team lead by Dave GALLAHER. Please read this 3 pages article that explains in details (not to forget some controversy...) how the Daily Mail misspelled a "All Backs" caption to be printed below a photograph into a world famous
"All B-l-acks"...
Second, I'm realizing that Dave GALLAHER and J.J.KELLY shared a similar fate during the War... they died approx. at the same period of the War (April and October 1917) and in the same area (70km between Vimy and Passchendaele: map). Both rest in peace near the battlefields, respectively in Poperinge (Nine Elms) and Lievin.
We shall not forget them.
(cf D.Gallaher notice on CWGC and D.Gallaher's bio found on the web)
(cemetry pictures credit to CWGC and to Ms Sue McConnell)
Edited Dec.1st : I've received an email from David Gallaher's great-nephew Don F. in Sydney. His sister in NZ, Kay Carter, recently published "Maria Gallaher - Her short life and her children's story", a book about Gallaher family www.mariagallaher.com/ with many details about David (cf sample page). You could also check the Facebook page of "Dave Gallaher Society" here (last post is a video visit of Nime Elms British Cemetery pictured above)
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