Rugby-Pioneers

Write Away...

These nice illustrated postcards are known as "write away" postcards... They all start by a few printed words, like this very rugby "I will try..." above - or "Sorry, I missed...", "Sorry, I couln't get away"  below - and let you continue to write a lazy few words...

These cards had travelled a lot... the card above had travelled from Stellenbosch to London via Cape Town in 1905... the other one below, written in Italian, from London to Firenze in Toscany in 1902...

 

Before 1903, it was not allowed to write correspondance on the back of a postcard, but the address only... another reason to write a few words on the front... and to leave room for nice calligraphy on the back... 

Bonus : two cards from the same series... as new as in 1900... ;)

"Football Incidents" 1905

This website has been idle for more than six months!! Shame!! even though in the meantime I've been active "online" on Facebook (join the 'rugby-pioneers' page!), Flickr, this French ww1 forum ... and even co-authoring a fine rugby book !

I'm sharing today these "Football Incidents", i.e. a series of "Oilette" postcards published in 1905 by Raphael Tuck - "classical" items for rugby memorabilia collectors !

This series shows six coloured illustrations - half rugby, half association - after B&W etchings from S.T.Dadd (five) and C.M.Padday (one) previously published in illustrated newspapers, and also includes some incidents of Oxford v Cambridge "Varsity" match.

Enjoy!

rings

P.S.: I've shot this cards with an iPhone - awful results as it's impossible to get parallels sides and square corners with such a poor camera :(

 

April 20th, 1913 - Aviron Bayonnais anniversary!

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!

Middlesex 7s - Twickenham - 1934

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)

BYRRH Calendar 1928-29

Some French memorabilia again... A calendar of French Championship 1928-29 offered by winemaker BYRRH near Perpignan.

Motto reads "Generous Wine with Quinine - Recommended to Families and Sportsmen"... There's a book to write about the relationships between rugby and alcoholic beverages - at least in France!

From a rugby standpoint, French championship 1928-29 (Pool round A : 8 pools x 5 clubs - Pool round B : 8 pools x 3 clubs - QF / SF / Final ) went to Quillan... so far, the smallest town (3,500 hab.) to have won French Championship... a team set-up by local entrepreneur Jean Bourel accused of poaching players in rival clubs, as well as by-passing strict amateurism rules... but that's another story!

Rugby in Syria...

Everytime I read the news about this terrible civil war ongoing in Syria, I also think of this old French postcard showing dynamic rugby action under the minarets of Damascus...

No idea of the exact date, but early 20s when Damascus was under French ruling... (cf Wikipedia: French Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon)

The back of the card explains that this is a rugby game played by French Army vs British Forces in Palestine (cf Wikipedia: British Mandate for Palestine)... and 19-14 victory for the Frogs !

The card was written by "Fernand", the soldier/rugby player who wrote to his family how he made the decisive pass to the French winger scoring the winning try on this postcard!

I just love when rugby memorabilia also recalls the real people behind the stories...

And, hoping for miracles..., I'd like to identify the army troops playing rugby here and possibly find evidences (newspaper, archives...) of this match somewhere: any hint welcome!

 

"A Miss is as Good as a Mile"

I'm just passing by and sending a postcard to say "Hello!" during summer holidays here in Europe...

"A Miss is as Good as a Mile"... an English comic postcard sent in December 1911...

That's all, folks !

 

"La Manière Bayonnaise" 1913

Possibly the most important rugby book in pre-ww1 France... rare, scare and precious ! (to me, at least...)

"La Manière Bayonnaise" ("The Bayonne Method" so to say...) is a milestone in French rugby, laying the grounds for an open passing game... and "French Flair"... written in 1913 by Fernand Forgues, captain of Aviron Bayonnais, French Champion 1913, and his two brothers and teammates Jules and Charles.

This book has been largely influenced by Gwyn Nicholls' "The Modern Rugby Game" and Bayonne key player Harry Owen Roe... even if last chapter highlights differences between "Welsh" and "Bayonnaise" methods... (can't tell you now !! haven't read it yet...)

The original cover picture shows the arrival of Aviron Bayonnais in Colombes, before their (winning) final vs SCUF on April 6th, 1913... "Les Gallois de France" (the Welshmen from France - read that former post for more!) as a fine synthesis!

Also realizing that I haven't draft a full article about Harry Owen Roe... unforgivable ! One of the nice background stories behind this blog is that it helped Roe's family and heirs (from Wales, England and Australia) to get to know eachother and meet IRL four years ago...

This said, you could check Roe's photographies (and signature) on my Flickr, or read this old story (2007) introducing this gentleman from Penarth who had settled in Pays Basque... Much more to come !

A last one - but a great one! - before leaving, courtesy of Gallica / French National Library, showing Roe (wearing a hat) and Jack Bancroft in Paris, in March 1922, before France v Wales. 

In mud we trust...

This is a French junior team from the late 20s, "Rugby Club de Franchepré", that I like very much...

The young guys from Joeuf, an industrial smalltown near Nancy in the East of France, are proudly posing for the photographer in their muddy jersey on a rainy winter day...

And here is my point: team photographs are often too boring... and far far more interesting when they're shot after the match ;-)

BTW : I've once bookmarked a photo project from down under where the photographer was asking amateur  players to pose after the match... same concept... great pictures... I should be able to retrieve it...

(large pic here on Flickr)

French presidential election, the rugby way

French presidential election 2012 will kick off next Sunday... I'd love to see Messrs Sarkozy, Hollande, Bayrou, Melanchon competing in a rugby game... and scrummaging to determine who deserves to be the captain of the team for the next five years...

That's exactly the concept of this serie of three French illustrated postcards (by artist T.Blanco) about the 1906 presidential election...

Title reads (in French) "Presidential Football in Versailles", as Versailles (see the Chateau in the background) is the city where congressmen were gathered to elect a President (no universal suffrage in these years...)

"Before" (above) shows President Emile Loubet (president 1899-1906), holding the ball... passing to candidates  Armand Fallières (the fat gentleman in red), Paul Doumer (wearing black beard and yellow jersey... future president in 1931) etc... (actually, I can't recognize the others...)

The second card, captioned "During" shows a wild scrummage... and candidate Armand Fallières getting control of the (presidential...) ball... 

Third card reads "After - Mr Fallières' triumph"... and is self explanatory!

 

Happy Easter ! Stupid rugby postcards...

For an "ordinary" amateur club rugby player here in Europe, Easter usually means that your rugby season is over, i.e. that you're not qualified for the final rounds of your local championship... I hate Easter!!

As a matter of "retaliation" against Easter, let's share some of the most stupid postcards from my rugby collection...

Interestingly, these cards are German or French... Home Unions would never had tolerated such ignominy...

Happy Easter!!

 

edited Apr.8th: it seems that the German postcard above doesn't belong to me (yet saved on my computer). So credit and thanks to the owner... should he/she read these lines, don't hesitate to say "Hello"... 

 

"The Red Virgin" was born on a March 31st

100 years ago, on March 31st 1912, Stade Toulousain (founded just four years before) became French champion for the first time, defeating Racing Club de France 8-6 in final (stats here)

As Stade Toulousain had remained undefeated over the whole 1911-12 season, the team was quickly celebrated as "La Vierge Rouge", i.e. "The Red Virgin"...

This said, I have no idea why "The Red Virgin" was impersonated as "Zezette" (quite a stupid nickname in French...) on this local postcard published a few days after the final!

Let's also share some views of the final featuring some of the finest players in French pre-ww1 rugby: Mouniq, Mayssonnié, Struxiano for Toulouse vs Lane, Faillot and Géo André for Paris...

Seven men from this final were soon to killed in action during ww1. Let's remember them: Joseph Servat, André Moulines and Alfred Mayssonnié for Toulouse... Marcel Burgun, Paul Descamps, Pierre Guillemin and Gaston Lane for Paris... (not forgetting Géo André, k.i.a. during ww2).

And special mention to Marc Giaccardy, the referee of the 1912 final wearing jacket and cap on the postcard above.... Giaccardy, journalist by profession, five times champion with Bordeaux between 1899 and 1909 (stats here), died in 1917 during the Battle of Verdun. His grave in a forest nearby was honoured some months ago by the local rugby committee (cf pictures in my ww1 forum in French here + local newspaper report).

And special thanks to Denis aka Zelaian who gave me the idea of this post...

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!

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 !

 

All Blacks are devils....

Watching All Blacks v France "live" at Eden Park...

Enough said...

(PS : nice postcard published in 1905... larger picture here...)

 

Made in Canada

A few days ago, Canada entered RWC 2011 with an enthusiastic 25-20 win over Tonga, showing strong values of courage and solidarity... and they'll be playing vs France in a few hours...

Whilst it has never been a major sport in the country, Rugby Football has a long history in Canada. According to Rugby Canada (cf "History of Rugby Canada"), the first game of rugby recorded took place in Montreal among artillery men in 1864. That same year, Trinity College in Toronto (err... I don't have this exact picture... above is Upper Canada College in Toronto instead !!), published the first set of rules for the game of rugby in Canada. In 1868, the first club, the Montreal Football Club was formed.

In 1874, the first North American international game took place in Cambridge (Massachusetts) between Montreal McGill and Harvard Universities. (cf that former post on the birth of rugby in the US)

Football played in these years was a blend between Rugby code, as defined in 1871, and other local ball games played in universities, resulting in various codes depending on time and space... and not to forget the influence of newly formed American Football as elaborated by Walter Camp and friends in Easzt Coast universities... e.g. just check the look and attitude of this "rugby" team from Toronto c1900 

Quoting Rugby Canada again: "Across Canada, there was a brief pre-war resurgence of rugby, [...] From 1914 to 1919, only in British Columbia and Nova Scotia, were there sufficient numbers of teams to arrange matches on a semi-regular basis. [...] In 1919, a Canadian Services Team played overseas against representatives from England, New Zealand, South Africa and Australia. The formation of the Rugby Union of Canada took place in 1929 and this was followed by a tour of Japan by a Canadian representatives side in 1932 (W5, L2)."

On the West Coast, in British Columbia (say, 4500 km away from Toronto !!), the first game was played in 1876 between members of the Royal Navy and the land forces on Vancouver Island. It was another ten years before the game was played on the mainland and in 1889.

Below are Vancouver Crusaders RFC, City Champions 1911 (large pic here) - and, yes, these guys really look like ruggers!

I don't remember of a Scottish settlement in Vancouver ;-) but, according to the text on the back of the card, there was five former Watsonians in this team incl. Captain and Vice-Captain...

BTW : I'm looking for some pictures of the Canadian tour in Japan in 1932. Anyone around ?

 

Harlequins: a postcard to Paris...

Amusing provocation from my Parisian postman: he just handed me, minutes ago..., this postcard that looks like another reminder of this Challenge Cup final dramatically lost by Stade Français Paris to London Harlequins last Friday...

Say, a fine team picture from the Quins (no date, but not much before WW1... captain A.D.Stoop holding the ball...)... Ironically, a postcard sent to Paris...

Here is king size picture if some Harlequins fans would like to check all the names.

I recognize (and it's written in the bottom right corner...) behind the players the stands of Richmond Athletic Ground where Geoff N. kindly brought me last summer... a monument of English rugby history : "home" of many England international games before Twickenham was built, "home" of both Richmond (obviously...) and London Scottish...

But that's another story !

And many thanks again to Geoff if you read these lines...

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")