Rugby in the army... propagating the game in France in the early XXth century... nice scrum indeed... everybody freezing for the photographer... it could be a bit tough to distinguish the white side from... the other white side...
Caption reads : Lyon - 98e Régiment d'Infanterie - Football. - Une mélée (a scrum)
(larger picture here)
Let's travel back to Shanghai, 1929... the golden years of International Settlement (ok, not really a colony...)
It's also my first rugby picture from China... (*)
Rugby in the Army, then, as here are the Shanghai Volunteer Corps - Scots Guards (full size pic)
Shanghai in the 20s-30s... a myth... ;-)
(*) Should I consider this exotic and curious Baines card to be Chinese ?
I am back... I was away for a week in Britany...
Difficult to find rugby pictures with a seaside theme... here is a WW1 postcard from Belgium "une partie de football" ("a football game") showing soldiers playing on the beach (large pic on Flickr)
Yes, soccer... I am afraid... say it's also an eye blink to a recent football game with blog-friends in Paris (picture here ; I am the guy with a rugby jersey...)
So, back to work ! and I have plenty of nice new things to display in the coming days !
Sean no longer has the monoply of "Colonial Rugby"... ;-) I have been gathering images of "colonial" rugby under French ruling for some time, and it's quite amazing to find evidence of rugby games in countries that you wouldn't have suspected... Indochina (VietNam), Marocco, Ivory Coast, Senegal... or Tunisia today.
This postcard, dated 1908, shows "Rugby Club Marine Sidi Abdallah" (i.e. Navy Rugby Club) - a French Navy camp in former Ferryville (now Menzel Bourguiba), near Tunis. (large pic here)
Nice zoom on the team captain... "Maori" ball, "anchor" jersey and... splendid French moustaches !
Discalimer : I like Rugby League !
Second disclaimer : I like Australian Rugby League even more !
1908 - 2008 : Rugby League celebrates its 100th anniversary these days in Australia ! Happy birthday down under, and I am happy to participate to the fiesta...
Modern times, first : if you have a couple of spare hours before you, you should pay a visit to NRL website... National Rugby League (yes, they did it the American way... "Australian" RL is just "National" RL...) is loaded with tons of videos to bring you the best of the games, present or past... this website is incredibly rich... there even is an "teleport" access to Second Life that will interest some of my readers...
History, then : I would urge any rugby fan to read each and every story shared by rugby historian Sean Fagan on his great website rl1908.com ... Sean goes far beyond the history of Rugby League in Australia... it will give you a deep insight in the evolution of all rugby codes... a "Must" !
Bridgeing between history and modern times, let me advertise for a temporary exhibition organised by the National Museum of Australia "League of Legends : 100 years of Rugby League in Australia" that will move around Australia over the next 12 months. All details and lots of pictures of this fantastic memorabilia (caps, jerseys, trophies, pictures...) on NMA website here... Sean has written a chapter of the catalogue of this exhibition - "The Game Begins" - , that I am displaying here... All credits to the NMA and I hope that they won't mind me to publish their pictures... Having said that, the full catalogue can be either purchased or downloaded (in pdf) here...
And now for something different... the mad kiwis at Alternative Rugby Commentary (do make sure this website is in your bookmarks...!) have celebrated NRL anniversary their own way... just hilarious !
And finally, let me "hurray" with the 1908 Kangaroos shouting their war-cry upon their arrival in England... full story at Sean's place...
Technorati : rugby league, nrl
In just three hours, Toulouse will play Cardiff in H-Cup... Go, Toulouse, go ! May my Welsh friends forgive me, but I really hope that Stade Toulousain will win the H-Cup this year and crush the Blues this afternoon like they crushed Leicester and East Midlands 100 years ago !
As I was searching among my pictures of Toulouse, I suddenly realized that the very first international game played by newly formed Stade Toulousain (1907), was played in April 1908... exactly 100 years ago... in the newly built "Stade des Ponts Jumeaux" (inaugurated in Nov.1907).
That day, Toulouse won 23-12 and scored no less than 7 tries... good omen !
Caption reads (in French) : un match Anglais aux "Ponts Jumeaux" entre l'East Midlands Union et le Stade Toulousain - une sortie de mélée aux Toulousains.
(hi res picture available here on Flickr)
Go ! Toulouse, Go !
Edit : Stade Toulousain b Cardiff 41 - 17 ! next round are London Irish... April 26. @ Twickenham... my bet on Toulouse again...
Technorati : rugby, stade toulousain, toulouse, east midlands
Scrutinizing stadium crowd pictures is my new hobby... ! it's a little bit like playing "Where's Wally ?"...
This old man, sitting at the front row of Brighton stadium in 1912, is balancing between boredom and contempt... he must be thinking that "the game was better before"(*)... 1912 or 2008, same mentality... same feelings... ?
And let's be honest (why should I, after all ??), this picture is a zoom from a football postcard... Albion vs Swindon Hove ... April 1912.
Which card do you believe to be the most stupid ? the French one (upper card) or the American one (lower card)... ?
I uploaded the second card on Flickr just two years ago... I'm sad to say it's so far the most "favorited" picture among +2000 rugby pictures... people don't like rugby history, indeed... ;-(
Identificateurs Technorati : rugby, easter, flickr
I love this card ! Father and son proudly posing for the photographer with their rugby jerseys and representative caps.
I can't identify the father's jersey nor the caps - "C.R.F.C. 1905-06" on the head, "C.R.F.C." and "1904-05" (only...) in hand. Only hint : the postcard comes from Gloucester... Your guess ?
The boy's kit is one of the very first England School's jersey. There is one at RFU Museum of Rugby at Twickenham, shown in their nice catalogue "Beauty and Power : A journey through the history of world rugby". Fine embroidery, indeed...
There are larger pictures available on Flickr (postcard / jersey / catalogue)
Post-Sciptum : when my son (2007 WRC replica) and I (1906 replica) are wearing our French jerseys, we are far less classy... ;-)
Edit March 22 : there are at leat three gentlemen (thank you AD and Akky) to suggest that C.R.F.C. could refer to Cheltenham R.F.C. Thanks a lot !
Technorati Tags: rugby, postcard, England Schoolboy
Mr Lazare Ponticelli, the oldest French veteran of WW1, passed away last week aged 110 and was buried yesterday. He was not the last one of all these young men engaged in the turmoil of WW1 as it still remains 8 of them...
I am always struck that what we call "history" is actually so close from us.... within the lifespan of a veteran... who was himself contemporary with the latest veteran of Waterloo and Napoleon wars... biological memory...
Talking about rugby, we all know the heavy tribute paid by sportsmen and ruggers in this conflict...
Instead of listing names, I have just recollected some figures from Stade Français. In 1914, this leading omnisport club accounted for 1400 members of which 650 were engaged (the other being either women, too old or too young). Out of 650, 168 were killed (25%) and 225 wounded (35%)...
This postcard shows a small monument erected in Stade de Colombes near Paris, dedicated to French rugby players killed during WW1.
Identificateurs Technorati : rugby, ww1, stade de colombes
Congratulations Wales !
This morning, the "Red Devils" hit the headlines of French daily newspaper L'Equipe after their well deserved win over France for a 2008 Grand Slam... But, say, it's far from being the first time !
Here is an issue of French sports magazine "Le Plein Air", dated January 21 1910, showing W.Trew, captain of Swansea and Wales (larger pic here) who led his team to a smashing 49 - 14 victory over the French side... Actually 1910 was the very first "V nations Tournament" (as we call it in France...), as it was the first time that Scotland agreed to play France...
This write-away postcard was sent from London to Italy in 1903... smart transition to introduce the fact that Italy is going to play France in Paris next Sunday afternoon !
As a last minute announcement, I have a spare ticket for the game (my brother can't make it...). Please drop me a mail with your telephone number if you're interested (meeting in Central Paris Sunday at 14h45 - ticket at face value = 50€). First in, first served !
Technorati Tags : rugby
I am back... after one week holidays... three hours tennis + two hours HobieCat sailing everyday... I can't feel my knees anymore ;-)
Sooooo, let's go back smoothly to rugby... here is a 1905 postcard illustrated by Tom Browne, caption reads "Well Tackled" !
Title is self-explanatory...
And that's all for today !
Identificateurs Technorati : rugby, tom browne
I started blogging old rugby pictures in February 2005 (on another "cheap" website, still online - but "down" quite often...)... so, Happy Brithday to me !
Internet years are like dog years... you have to multiply by 7... just to say that this website is now adult...and hope that I'll find again time, ideas... and pictures (*) for some more years to go !
I browsed my Flickr pictures but failed to find a rugby picture with a Birthday cake (John, do you have this ?)... instead (**), here is a recent purchase : an "Art Nouveau" illustrated postcard, by artist Victor Mignot. This card comes from Belgium... actually a revolutionary postcard : handsome young men and a pretty young lady assaulting a "bourgeois" with a rugby ball...
(*) btw, your contributions to this website are always welcome (mail me as indicated in the upper left corner)... Collectors of the World, Unite !
(**) it's my website, I do what I like ;-) !
Identificateurs Technorati : rugby, postcard, birthday, victor mignot
What the .... is that scene ?
My postcard is all stained and not very clear (pls check a large one here @ Flickr) but you could identify French soldiers in uniform, a trapeze artist and a full rugby team... pretty strange, indeed...
Identificateurs Technorati : rugby
Still discussing about rugby at the Olympic Games... here in Paris, 1924... with a nice view of Stade de Colombes from plane... you can see the players, the rugby posts and the Olympic flags.. (larger pic here)
Actually, I was on my way back to my office, this afternoon, and decided to visit a postcard dealer downtown Paris... and was happy to find this card "hidden" among other football cards...
I am making a bet... the stadium is half empty, suggesting that France is not playing that day... hence, the only possibility left to us is USA v Romania... (39 - 0 ! nine tries to nil for the Americans...)
Technorati Tags : rugby , olympic games, stade de colombes
I realize that all my recent posts are in Black&White... and that they're all very serious... time for a break, then !
Here is a French comic card, no date but pre-WW1, showing an energetic touch line-up...
I love this kind of illustrated cards ! and now need to find the others... so far, I have identified four other cards in this series (provided my Mr Serge Laget to illustrate one of my favorite rugby books...) showing respectively a) the teams entering the stadium, b) a scrum, c) a try and d) a severe tackle... could somebody help me there ;-) ?
"Live rugby" this week end ! My 8 years old boy and I have tickets to support France vs Ireland (at Stade de France)... My son's "debut" in the Tournament (but he has already attended to France... Ireland during the RWC...)... We will both wear our "official" jerseys... old and new...
Genealogy researchers often land on my website... and I am always happy when I can bring pictures or informations about ruggers from the past...
This time, there is nothing I can do... but I am confident that Welsh readers could help...
I received today a kind mail from Jim - his grandfather is on the picture..- asking for some background information about Tredegar Hibernians RFC who won the Rhymney Junior League in 1910.
We are looking for any kind of stories or pictures about Tredegar RFC (there's apparently nothing at the Club) and Rymney Junior League in pre-WW1 times... Please leave a comment below if you've got any clue..
(a larger picture here)
Identificateurs Technorati : rugby, Tredegar Hibernians, Rhymney
An unidentified postcard... somewhere in England... sometimes c.1900... the rise of sports as a mass phenomenon
Working class caps... middle class bowler hats... standing in a compact crowd...
I really like these pictures of crowds that tell us a lot about this era...
BYW if you check carefully this hi-res picture, you'll find 3 or 4 ladies sitting in the back...
Identificateurs Technorati : rugby
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