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finbar
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Castiglion Fiorentino, Italy
Jan 1970 time: 06:23
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quote: Originally posted by Tamerlin
Rugby is truly one of the most important discovery that came from the other side of the Channel.  |
Along with Spotted D*ck, I'd say they're the only important discoveries to come to you from the other side of the Channel.
quote: Some say treachery has also been invented by the british |
They have a copyright on it.
quote: I knew the history of the french Rugby is somehow tied to politics but I must admit I'am largely ignorant of the details. |
It got a bit complex at times, but I'll try to summarise it.
The Poms brought rugby to France. The French wanted it - at least the French elite did, because they admired the gentlemanly, honourable aspects of it - and the Poms brought it. Clubs like Racing France were established and the game was, initially, largely one for the elite. Pierre de Coubertain - I'm not sure of the spelling - of Olympics fame was a key figure in establishing and promoting the game as a truly amateur, spiritually pure pastime.
The game quickly spread. It particularly took on in the South West - in the hamlets, villages and towns - which could never be called elite. So the first (as it were) schism developed - the elites from around Paris -v- the rurals from the South West. There was, for example, mild outrage in Paris when Bordeaux was the first non-elite team to win the National Championship in 1899. Over the next few decades, the teams from the South West (and adjacent regions) did very very well.
Skip forward in time a bit. Here's where I get a bit vague in the timeline and details. In the 1920s-1930s, shamateurism was rife. One of the French rugby greats had gone to England, played professional L***** and brought the game back to France. Because rugby - in parts of the country - still retained an elite edge to it, L***** was adopted by the Leftists. But the schism between Left and Right translated into rugby too, with the classic National Championship final - that I referred to in the last post - taking place. It was ideology -v- ideology as much as a rugby match, and the Leftists won.
Second World War. France was occupied. The Vichy government (effectively) banned L***** (because of its Leftist connections) and promoted - you could also say exploited - rugby as the national game in an attempt to "unify" the country.
Post Second World War. With the Vichy government gone, interestingly, rugby didn't suffer from its association with the Vichy. The structures they put in place remained, the game prospered. But L***** never recovered. (Thank God!)
That's sort of a summary. The episode also touched on racism in French rugby - it was sometime in the 1960s or 1970s (I think) - before a team with a black player won the National Championship. Racism was also one of the reasons - not a major one - that one of the historians said was the reason s***** gained such a strong foothold and eventually - arguably - overshadowed rugby. French soccer teams were as black as they were white - something which infuriated Jean Le Pen, amongst others - while rugby remained predominantly white.
Tamerlin - there's a good chance FoxSports will replay the episode sometime this week - they seem to repeat everything else endlessly - so if I see it in the program schedule I'll tape it and send it to you. I'm sure you'd find it totally fascinating.
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finbar
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Castiglion Fiorentino, Italy
Jan 1970 time: 06:23
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quote: Originally posted by Tamerlin
people of ill repute.  |
A tough but fair assessment of an England supporter. 
quote: About Rugby and the Vichy government, the french championship has not been played for the whole duration of the second World War (as it has already been the case for the first World War) and was replaced by a challenge I have forgotten the name (the name is wrote on the Brennus Shield), as far as I can remember the Stade Toulousain has won at least once this competition. |
They didn't mention the Challenge. Toulouse got a couple of mentions, but nothing specific. Oh! Something else I did learn - Lourdes had a champion team for number of years! I had no idea. I've been there. Weird place.
quote: About S***** overshadowing Rugby partly (even in a very low extent) because of racism, I'am a bit dubitative. Though I actually believe the French Rugby has been more reluctant to accept black coloured players in their teams than S***** and that it has not helped the French Rugby in any way, the reason why S***** is dominating Rugby is that it has accepted professionalism far earlier than Rugby, thus allowing people to live from their sport, and has adopted simpler rules early in its history. I think these reasons are also valid for England. |
I think you're right. The historian didn't say it was a major reason, just a factor along the way in that it represented - for rugby - a lack of progressive thinking.
quote: Deep in yourself Finbar, you are a good man. |

But Sssshhhhhh! Don't tell Havak! 
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Tamerlin
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Toulouse (South-western France)
Apr 2002 time: 06:23
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quote: Originally posted by Havak
We play the league leaders Gloucester the night before England take on Finbars mob... |
The problem is the same here in France and some clubs like the Stade Toulousain, the Stade Français, the Biarritz Olympique et le SU Agen are more penalized than the other clubs which are moreover aware of the greater opportunity to win at this time. 
quote: This is actually a serious problem for the English game – we play too much rugby. Our top players must be playing almost twice the games a year of their S12 colleagues. It has to be taking a massive toll on their bodies. |
There is a debate each year in France and the players and national team coaches are complaining, without any result. Bernard Laporte, the French National Team coach will only have its players gathered together five days before the test-Matches. 
quote: Surprised huh?  |
As far as I'am concerned : no ! 
I think you will be equally surprised if I tell you I will back England against the SH heretics. 
quote: And if we are talking bended knees could I remind you we took the game to the colonies as well?  |
You then have two reasons to bend knees in front of a subject of Her Gracious Majesty : the Crown and Rugby.
quote: We didn’t invent it, but we are damn good at it. Guess where we learned the art?  |
Finbar ?
quote: I’m aware there are traditional aspects of French-English relations seen by one side as treachery and the other as pragmatism but they are equally shared out I assure you.  |
I think this is simply an integral part of politics.
quote: My biggest worry in you mentioning it in jest is Finbar will pounce on it – oh look what happended!  |
Havak, It was meant to be !
quote: Strangely the BBC have been running a documentary about “Allies at war” these last few weeks and I wonder in passing if the French have any idea how De Gaulle was ,and still largely is, regarded by his wartime allied nations?  |
It happens I like history and especially the history of the Second World War and I know the allied despised (at the very least) the Général De Gaulle. As far as I can remember, Sir Winston Churchill has tried to isolate this man he thought was an annoying opportunist. The American had even less consideration for this man and they have sometimes even been paranoid about De Gaulle intents. 
About Staline, I think he was more than happy to have another jester to throw at the Western Allied Legs.
The attitude of the Allied was such that the Général De Gaulle had to invite himself to the meetings and other strategical talks when he could grab the information in time. Of course this has not been very good for its own reputation. 
I'am not very found of the Général De Gaulle which I think was an ambitious man with a petty mentality but I must acknowledge the fact that he was deeply in love with its country he held in the highest regards and that he worked, even if the results can be criticized, for the greatness of France.
One thing should be noted, before WWII western generals thought armored vehicles should only be used as infantry support like highly mobile artillery batteries integrated into infantry units. In a book published a few years before the Second World War, the Général De Gaulle recommended to gather amored vehicles in independent units, to use them independently and advocated the reorganization of the French Army. 
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