Rugby-Pioneers

Lion taming...

Here is one of my favorite comic postcards, published in New Zealand in 1905 after that historical 9-3 win over British Lions in Wellington...

Caption reads : New Zealand footballers at home kicking the 'Lion' over his own goal !... not to forget an Australian wallaby ready to hit him back...

There's a lot in this cartoon... the distress of British Lions after their last minute defeat yesterday in South Africa, the supremacy of Southern Hemisphere rugby, a Wallaby to recall how disapointing was French squad yesterday in Sydney... and an All Black (sorry, no Springbock available in my library...) to explain the art of kicking to Ronan O'Gara...

This being said, if you really want to laugh about Lion taming, there's nothing better than this 5 minutes Monty Python classic starring John Cleese and Michael Palin... no rugby inside, I'm afraid, just a larch...

The pleasure of Catalan wine...

Hummm... shared some fine wine at lunch time with two sports afficionados... Red wine from the French side of lovely Catalonia, country of French 2009 Champion USA Perpignan... and country of this "Trilles" - a blend of red wine, quinine and tonic water -... a popular "aperitif" drink in these 20s and 30s... from a time when advertisers were very keen to associate rugby and alcoholic beverages...

Caption reads, in English "There's nothing better than Trilles after physical efforts!"...

This lunch was also an opportunity to discover Benoit's last masterpiece... I'am just teasing... this red "rooster" is a sample of a future jersey developed by Sport d'Epoque and available later this year... This jersey is a landmark in the history of French rugby and sports... no less !

The Great Rugby Match at Wellington

"The Great Rugby Match at Wellington" ... could be the newspaper headlines for the second test match between All Blacks and France next Saturday, but actually relates to the British Lions touring to New Zealand in 1904.

Title (not on my picture) reads "Popular Interest in the Rugby Game"... 20,000 people gathering at the stadium (the total population of New Zealand was then around 800,000...) to witness the New Zealanders beat the British team captained by Mr Bedell-Sivright by nine points to three... the rise of colonial rugby... and possibly a trigger to set up the famous 1905 tour in Europe of Gallaher's All Blacks...

The picture above (larger pic available here) comes out of a four pages article published in London some three months later (errr... can't remember the name of the newspaper...) which brings some thoughts about the tour and team pictures as well (page 1 2 3 4 )

This other view of Wellington stadium belongs to John @ ovalballs.com (Thanks, Master !). John has some fine and rare postcards, incl. team pictures, of the 1904 Lions tour on his website - don't miss them...

Many cartoons were also issued after the game... here are two very collectible postcards (and some others in my drawers for future postings...)... from a time when neither the kiwi nor the "All Blacks" brand were established as a New Zealand "trade marks"...

 

(larger postcards here and there)

What a wonderful (digital) World...

When I started this website back in 2005, online resources for rugby history were more than scarce, and quite always to be credited to hardworking generous individuals... I'm happy to realize now "serious" institutions like public libraries and newspapers have now joined the (digital) game... 

Getting digital is great... sharing is even greater ! Let's consider for instance this fine comic print - "The Triumph of John Bull Junior - Episodes of Fast and Fancy in the Struggle for Rugby Supremacy" in NZ newspaper The Free Lance, August 20th 1904 - paying tribute to the All Blacks (I know, there weren't called "All Blacks" in 1904....) who defeated British Lions... This print is available in hi resolution thanks to efforts of The National Library of New Zealand... Their archive - PaperPast - contains more than one million pages from various NZ publications and covers the years 1839 to 1920... No need to say : you'll find some rugby treasures there !... I was like a kid in a toy factory during my first visits...

And now the cherry on the cake: The National Library of New Zealand grants permission for the reproduction of its material, the only requirement being that attribution to them is made (basically, same as my Creative Commons licence...). Ladies & Gentlemen from down under: thank you !

I truely believe that sharing knowledge - even the smallest contribution... - is a progress to our society, and it makes me really mad when public institutions behave like if they were business data banks... Example ? French National Library (as public as their kiwi collegues...) is also online: their service - called Gallica - brings a lot of interesting pictures and documents... but the material is restricted for use, and heavily priced even for non-commercial usage... bad!

Sharing this copyrighted picture of the first fixture between France and England at the Parc des Princes in March 1906, could possibly bring me into troubled waters... unless I pay 56€+VAT (almost 80 US$... price list here...). If some "Messieurs from BnF" do read these lines, don't hesitate to give a call to discuss my point...

In that respect, let's welcome "The Commons", an initiative from Flickr: a place where public libraries volunteer to share photographies free of any copyright, and sometimes ask in return for some help to identify the pictures... a few rugby pictures there, notably this team photography of 1908-1909 Kangaroos feat. Dally Messenger and Arthur Hennessy (full team here) provided by the State Library of New South Wales ...

... or the very same National Library of New Zealand (again, thank you... you rule !) which brings that great view of the crowd at Wellington Athletic Park in the 1920s... (Photo by William Hall Raine - king size pic available here)

This note is (too ?) long but doesn't claim to be exhaustive (don't hesitate to share your favorite online resources in the comments below...) Let's however also pay some credit to the "pioneer" of all online resources, i.e. US Library of Congress, which shares some hi res / no copyright rugby pictures, such as this famous WW1 poster published in 1915 by Central London Recruiting Depot... "Rugby Union Footballers are doing their Duty"... claiming that 90% of them have already enlisted and that "every player who represented England in Rugby international matches last year has joined the colours - in The Times, Nov. 30, 1914"...

Enough said ! Let's share !

French illustrated postcard, 1908

Slow blogging...

Nice rugby colours instead... French illustrated postcard (larger pic here), posted in 1908 in Marseilles... arrived in 1909 in Tunisia, Souk El Khemis...

Have you ever been to Huddersfield (in 1910) ?

Following my post earlier this month about Huddersfield rugby tram, I've received this fine series of postcards from Rugby League collector Stuart Quinn. The "Team of All Talents" is (almost...) all here !

Upper picture shows the team posing with 1910 Yorkshire Cup, Huddersfield's first trophy before several in a row before WW1.Then come Hall of Fame players Wagstaff and Rosenfeld followed by Holland, Ganley, Lee, Swindon, Rogers and Gleeson. Below is another picture of the same team led by W.Kitchin.

Both team pictures also show Pat "Nimmo" Walsh, a gentleman from down-under once portrayed by RL historian Sean Fagan on his rl1908.com fame. Please check my old posts (three years ago...) for more Pat Walsh : Waratahs 1904 and Representative caps...

Again, thank you Stuart !

Rugby tram to Huddersfield, 1909

"Well played Huddersfield" shines this old tram !

Light bulbs garlands to celebrate Northern Union club Huddersfield - today "Giants" in Super League -. In 1909/1910 Huddersfield won the Yorkshire Challenge Cup, opening the way to several years of success before WW1 for "the team of All Talents", led by "Prince of Centres" Harold Wagstaff...

Check the picture carefully : the portrays of the players are displayed behind the windows...

I can't recognize the players, but obviously the same series of photographies as this postcard dated 1909 as well (W.M.Edwards... no stats about this gentleman, I'm afraid)

I like this game of chasing for rugby details in old postcards...

One final word to recall that Huddersfield is the city where stands George Hotel, the place where on August 29, 1895 twenty-one northern clubs held a meeting and by a majority of 20 to 1 voted to secede from the RFU to set up their own Northern Rugby Football Union (which became Rugby Football League in 1922) (History of RL on Wikipedia here)

For those who like the history of Rugby League AND do speak French (anyone ?), I strongly recommend this 1h documentary "Rugby à XIII : Envers et contre tous" that can be purchased and downloaded here (5€) (also check the small teaser in the right column of my website)

And to make this long post even longer... let's also share this (poor) Baines card...

Edited March 9th : Sean @ rl1908.com suggests that the photos in the tram are RL Hall of Fame players Albert Rosenfeld, an Australian and all time best try scorer in British League... 80 tries during 1913-14 season, and Harold Wagstaff. You could check this fine blog about RL History to get a full bio of these great ruggers (Rosenfeld here... Wagstaff there...)

Rugby League, Northern Union

Tom Browne's comic rugby series

Some comic postcards... it's been a long time...

Tom Browne (1870-1910) was one the most popular cartoonist in England at the turn of the XXth century.

You could find an enthusiastic bio on "About Postcards" , a blog dedicated to postcards collecting (and thank you for Tom B's photo).

So, many sporting postcards among his massive production... and special mention to rugby football !

Here are four rugby postcards c.1905... and many others in my drawers for future posts... top to bottom are "Touch", "a Try", "Are we down-hearted? No!!!" and "Who's got the ball?" (click on the links for larger pics)

Tom Browne

Early XXth century Photoshop...

Here are the 1905 All Blacks during their famous tour.  A pretty casual photography as we see some of the guys in rugby kit, some in "half" rugby kit, some barefoot, some wearing hats, some wearing jackets... the end of a training, may be ?

Then a Photoshop artist came in, didn't like the background and transformed this picture into another postcard...



Fine work, indeed... And good news : he didn't erase any player...

As often, the back of this postcard shows the list of fixtures (past and future) and the players' stats. The stats from the beginning of the tour (9 games played, out of an initial schedule of 32) are just impressive and explains the newspapers craze for that "colonial" team : 9 games played in one month... 9 wins... 386 points "for" and ... 7 points "against"...



Nota : the bootom card is signed "G.,W-S-M". Does anyone know what it stands for ?

(larger pictures : top, middle, bottom)

rugby, All Blacks

Enjoy, dear Reader... !

A (very) fine illustrated postcard published in 1910... Explicit, indeed... !

And a quick and dirty copy/paste to make it as my own XMas card...

Here are the hi res pictures : the original one... and the fake...

Out for a drink !

No time to blog, then !...

Note for non-French speaking readers : small glasses of wine are sometimes called "ballons" i.e. "balls" in French...

Cambridge University : Holidays in France...

Souvenir postcard of a Cambridge University XV enjoying French rugby in the beautiful medieval city of Carcassonne...

Sun... nature... good food... strong local teams (both Union and League)...  definitely a good place for a rugby break with friends...

From what I've read on the web, I understand that Cambridge teams (both RU and RL) have been regularly touring the region until now...

Having said that, I guess that local rugby in the 1920s wasn't exactly a gentlemen rugby for students... but tough grassroots rugby in rural France... "rugby de clocher" (belfry rugby) as we say in French where local teams (used to ?) show exacerbated rivalry against eachother...

Here is a larger picture of the C.U. team, if it could help someone to identify the team and date the picture.

Post-Scriptum for my Rugby League friends : Carcassonne is the hometown of French RL "superstar" from the 50s, Puig Aubert aka "Pipette"... another story...

 

Colonial Rugby ! Noumea, New Caledonia c.1905

Colonial Rugby !

I like searching for old rugby pictures from "unusual" countries... I mean countries where you shouldn't expect rugby to be played in the early days of the XXth century... We all know that British merchants, sailors and soldiers had been playing the game almost everywhere possible, but I am always surprised to find rugby games in former French colonies (Africa, Indochina) or territories...

Here is a postcard showing a football rugby game ("une partie de football à l'Anse Vata") in Noumea, New Caledonia.

Should I recall that New Caledonia is a French Overseas Territory in the Pacific Ocean (cf map here, half-way from Australia, New Zealand and Fidji... Hence a natural place for rugby, even though, in fact, I am afraid that Caledonian rugby is not as developped as it could (should) be ; I am sure that French rugby could benefit from the input of Caledonian athletes if they are made from the same steel as other ruggers from the Pacific Region...

Back to my postcard (hi res picture here)... there is no date, but it comes from a postcard series issued c.1905... no indications about the players neither, even if we could think of military teams. Any hint would be welcome... !

You can see the ball (a bit fuzzy...) one meter above the head of the fullback in white... I always wonder how sports photographers were working in these early days to capture rugby action... he's almost missed the ball, but it remains a good action shot...

Anse Vata ("Vata  Bay") is now part of Noumea, but in the early 1900s the place was unhabited and it only was a destination for leasure, riding and walking. A velodrome was built there as early as 1895... and cycling remains one the most popular sports in New Caledonia ! Here is the track in this other postcard from the same series (I've found this picture on the net - I don't know who to credit...)



Well ! this post is also a small tribute to the Pacific Islanders who'll be touring France next Saturday... let's hope that the game will be more attractive than this sad France v Argentina last week...

And, before leaving, what about this sunset on Vata Bay... ? New Caledonia is possibly one of the most beautiful places on Earth...



(CC BY-NC-SA imageo - Thank you)

rugby, new caledonia, noumea, anse vata

When Paris was giving lessons to Toulouse students… 1903 final

This afternoon, Stade Français lost in Stade de France vs Stade Toulousain… first defeat of the season for my favourite team… Say, my story is a tribute to the roots and rise of Toulousain (*) rugby. This text is the translation of a recent post (in plain French…) on the forum of Stade Français website, where I regularly share some Parisian memorabilia (my ID is “Frederic 1892”).

 

1903… the supremacy of Parisian teams Stade Français and Racing Club de France is contested as rugby is rising in South-West France… Bordeaux became champion in 1899 and managed to play the final every season since then (defeated by Stade Français in 1900 and 1901.. by RCF in 1902…)

Stade Français was lead by Scot Jack Muir… my picture is not the team who played the final as it was shot three months earlier in Paris, but most key-players are there : Henri Amand (future international cap n°1 in 1906), Monrouval brothers (both students at « Polythechnique »), Gaudermen, Beaurin… (future international players G.Jérome and E.Lesieur are however missing).

The organization of early 1900s French Championship is simple… the best of provincial teams of the year vs the best of Parisian teams of the year…

In the North, Racing Club de France had won the « Championship of Paris » and was ready to play the final… but was disqualified for having played with an English rugger with no registered licence… and was replaced by Stade Français (SF defeating Le Havre in play-offs)

In the South, surprise came from  S.O.E.T (Stade Olympique des Etudiants Toulousains),  which managed its way to the final defeating Stade Bordelais (Bordeaux) and F.C.Lyon. The first rugby final in Toulouse history… obviously not the last one…



French Rugby Union decided to play the final in Toulouse (possibly to promote rugby outside of Paris) on April 26th 1903. In these days, there was no stadium in Toulouse… games were played on « Prairies des Flitres », i.e. an open field along river Garonne inside the city… until 1907 when « Stade des Ponts Jumeaux » (« Twin bridges Stadium»…) would be built.

Stade Français winger Emile Lesieur recalls a final where the guys from Paris did show more speed and tactics than their oppponents…Final score16-8, i.e. 4 tries to 2 for Stade Français.

Stats (in French) and details are brought here by my friends from finalesrugby.com

Rugby trivia now ! let’s mention that one of the four Parisian tries was scored by Mexican three-quarter Fernando Ancona… I believe that this is the only time in French rugby that a Mexican athlete enters into official records (and what about world rugby ? I haven’t even checked if Mexico is affiliated to IRB…). Let’s also note that there were two Scot players (Muir et Forsyth) in Paris team... opening the way for Simon Taylor this season…

Stade Toulousain “as we know it” was created in 1907 in direct connection from SOET… to make a long story short, Stade Toulousain inherits from four clubs… As early as 1896 (the prehistory of French rugby…), "Olympique Toulousain" (a team from Toulouse HiSchool « lycée ») and "Stade Toulousain" (another team from the same Toulouse « lycée »…) merged to create the "Stade Olympien des Etudiants de Toulouse" (SOET), while later, in 1905, "Union Sportive de l'Ecole Vétérinaire" (Vet’School team) and "Sport Athlétique Toulousain" merged into USEVT "Veto-Sports"… SOET et USEVT merged in 1907 to create Stade Toulousain…

A bit complicated… but students only !

Among 1903 Toulouse young ruggers , some will become key-players of Stade Toulousain : Fabregat (hidden in the second row of SOET team picture, with an impressive beard…) then first captain of Stade Toulousain, Cuillé or Toto Pujol, eccentric and eclectic athlete who will be capped in 1906… under Stade Français colours and will end his sporting career in Wales... Here are the guys in 1909 with Stade Toulousain : another lost final !



Otherwise, the rise of Toulousain (*) rugby that year 1903 must have stimulated the guys from Bordeaux… they will then put a stong hold on French Championship… winning in 1904, 1905, 1906 and 1907… until Stade Français “come back” in 1908… the last one before modern times… 1998 actually...

Here are larger pics of SF, SOET or ST


(*) Toulousain ? Toulousan ? how do you say "Toulousain" in English ??

Technorati Tags: rugby, stade français, stade toulousain, SOET

The most ridiculous rugby postcards EVER

French postcards... no date...

Freaking cards indeed !... outrageous make-up, kitsch and cheap studio background, ridiculous posing - especially the one where the guy seems to head at the ball -, fooball association jersey, insane sepia colours... weird !

I don't think that this photographer has ever attended to a rugby match...

If I may ask a question : why this ??

rugby

Rabbit rugby: most stupid rugby postcard ever ?

Recipes for stupid rugby postcards are simple : draw some animals or some babies (could do both ?) and let roll the ball...

This "rabbit game" could certainly be in the Top10, it's a bit weird... surely because of this anthropomorphic drawing...

Say, we could open a contest... all your "stupid" contributions are welcome ! Don't hesitate to share your stupid postcards  !

Here are those that I used to post over the past three years...

Freaky, isn't ??

Maori War Cry in Paris... and Germany 1926

No, the NZ Maoris did not tour in Germany in 1926...

But almost the same picture as my previous post i.e. performing Maori War Cry before playing in Paris, Stade de Colombes (in Miroir des Sports, Oct.1926)



In 1926-27, the NZ Maoris went on a seven-month tour which took in Australia, Ceylon, France, Wales and Canada. The side played 38 matches, winning 29, losing seven and drawing two.

Actually, I was surprised to find this Haka ("Schlachtruf" i.e. "War Cry") published as a German postcard (larger picture here @ Flickr)... sign of German growing interest for rugby in these days and sign of the strong interest from media in this "uncommon" team...

Having said that, the German caption is a bit misleading... it reads that "France defeats New Zealand in Rugby 11:9 - The NZ Maoris during their War Cry before the game begins", but that was not a Test Match nor an "official" French side, but a selection of Paris players. Ironically, the "true" Equipe de France lost 3 -12 the only Test match vs the Maori side, later in December in the same stadium

Check this other picture below (December 1926 in Paris)... cameras are rolling... (and the "Haka leader" is wearing trousers because the temperature was dead cold that day !)



I was hoping to find some video footage of the Maori team on the web, but did not... Say, I am still happy to share this Haka shot during the 1924-25 All Blacks tour ("The Invincibles")... "Ko Niu Tireni e haruru nei" - The New Zealand storm is about to break...

rugby, haka, maoris, new zealand

1908-2008 : Paris sera toujours Paris...

Paris sera toujours Paris... Paris will ever be Paris... !

Stade Français likes the "8 years" very much... like the Chineses do !

1908 : Stade Français celebrates its 8th Champion title... and the last one from "pioneers" times before a loooong break...

1998 : Stade Français is back into French Elite and strikes again ! Paris becomes Champion the same year of their comeback in "pro rugby"...

2008 : Great start in French Elite ("Top14")... 6 games played, 6 won, 6 points ahead of runner up Bayonne... (sorry no "8"!)

Here is a postcard showing the guys in 1908, feat. some of the greatest players of French pre-ww1 rugby... standing left is Emile Lesieur, then Jack Muir with the hat, in the middle is Jack Dedet, the coloured guy with a hat is Georges Jérome... sitting in the middle is captain Charles Beaurin, close to "superstar" Marcel Communeau... (I need to come back to my books to name the others... I will edit it later...)

A larger pic here @ Flickr

Edit : arrgggghh just realized that I already posted this postcard last year... I'm getting senile :-(

Louis Le Grand, Paris, c1900

Kids are back to school (in France...) these days after summer break...

This is an opportunity to remember that the development of sports and rugby in France - maybe more than in other countries - was spearheaded by a bunch of active students and teachers in Paris secondary schools at the turn of the century.

Here is a un-dated postcard (c1900) of Lycée Louis Le Grand team, one of the most elitist and prestigious secondary school in Paris, but also the very craddle of Stade Français which was created there in 1883 by a group of local sporting students. The first four "sections" were cycling, tennis, football... and obviously rugby...

I can't name the players, nor find the date... if anybody can help... please do !

(larger pic on Flickr here)

"Tour de France" and Rugby meet at the Parc des Princes

The 95th "Tour de France" just ended yesterday... cycling is definitively not my cup of tea, but here is an opportunity to visit again Paris' main stadium, the Parc des Princes.

The Parc des Princes was inaugurated in 1897 as a velodrome. He was then managed by Henri Desgrange - a sportsman, journalist and entrepreneur - who later created the Tour de France in 1903... Desgrange was also managing sports newpaper L'Auto (now L'Equipe...)

The Parc des Princes had been for long time a high place of cycling in France, track cycling of course but also the finish line of Tour de France untill 1967 - the year when "old" Parc was closed and demolished to be rebuilt (in 1972) as it is today... without a cycling track...

This stadium had also hosted the first appearances of Equipe de France for both Football (since 1905) and Rugby (since 1906) (cf this post about France - All Blacks 1906... and that one also... or this one...). French national rugby team then moved to Colombes after WW1, before returning to the "new" Parc des Princes in 1973 (and now at the Stade de France since 1998)

Between 1900 and WW1, the Parc des Princes hosted most of international fixtures of Stade Français and Racing Club de France... the place could gather up to 10,000 people... but I understand that the rent was quite high... Desgrange was known to be a fierce businessman...

Enough said... here are four old postcards from the Parc des Princes :

- the upper one shows the gates in 1906, in Boulogne

- the second one shows Racing Club de France vs London Irish FC in 1899... the cycling track is visible in the background (great sporting picture, indeed !)

- the two lower cards give an idea of the atmosphere of the place, from the main stand (1910) or from the track (1906)

And finally, "Le Parc" (as we say in Paris...) as it is today... (credit to L'Internaute)