1.
France national rugby league team
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The France national rugby league team represent France in international rugby league tournaments. They are referred to as les Chanticleers or less commonly as les Tricolores, the team is run under the auspices of the Fédération Française de Rugby à XIII and is largely made up of players from Super League and the Elite One Championship. The French rugby league team first played in 1934 on a tour of England and they have taken part in all World Cups, twelve in total, with the first being held in 1954 in France. They have never won the title but finished runners-up in both 1954 and 1968 and these are often considered the glory years of French rugby league as from the 1950s to the 1970s the team were strong and regularly beat Australia, New Zealand and Great Britain. In 2006, the Perpignan based team Catalans Dragons entered Super League Europe, despite improved professionalism, France finished 10th in the 2008 World Cup in Australia. The team reached the quarter-finals of the 2013 World Cup where they were knocked out by England, currently the team is ranked fifth in the world. In Europe alone they are ranked second, ahead of Ireland, Scotland and Lebanon, on New Years Eve 1933, England and Australia played in Paris – the first game of rugby league football in France. The match was one-sided, with Australia winning 63-13 in front of a crowd of about 5,000, French rugby union players, disgruntled that France had been suspended from the Five Nations Championship, formed the Ligue Francaise de Rugby à XIII on 6 April 1934. Jean Galia, a rugby union international and champion boxer, led France on a six-match tour of England in 1934. The national teams first game was in Paris on 15 April 1934, by 1939, the French League had 225 clubs and the national side won the 1938–39 European Rugby League Championship where they became the first French team in any sport to beat England at home. The game of rugby league suffered in France during the Second World War, some players and officials of the sport were punished, whilst the total assets of the rugby league and its clubs were handed over to the union. In 1949, they became the first French sporting team to win at Wembley Stadium, in 1951 France embarked on their first ever tour of Australasia, coached by Bob Samatan and led by the legendary chain-smoking fullback, Puig Aubert. Their flamboyant style of attacking rugby attracted huge crowds. When the two met for the first Test, the match became the first all ticket international to be staged at the Sydney Cricket Ground. On Saturday 30 June 1951, Australia secured a hard-fought second Test victory over France in Brisbane by 23 points to 11, the third Test took place at Sydney Cricket Ground three weeks later before a crowd of 67,009. Late tries from Duncan Hall and Brian Davies could not prevent the Kangaroos from suffering an embarrassing 35-14 defeat, France played 28 matches during the three-month tour, winning 21 matches, drawing twice and losing just five times. In November 1951, France met Other Nationalities in an International Championship match at the Boulevard, Other Nationalities won 17-14 but the match centred on the behaviour of Edouard Ponsinet, who was involved in most of the violence that happened at the game. The Other Nationalities were down to players at one stage, with Arthur Clues being the most serious casualty
France national rugby league team
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1951 team
France national rugby league team
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The French team lining up before their match against New Zealand in the
2009 Four Nations tournament.
2.
Rugby League World Cup
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The idea of a rugby league world cup tournament was first mooted in the 1930s with the French proposing holding a tournament in 1931, and again in 1951. The fourteen tournaments held to date have been at intervals ranging from two to eight years, and have featured a number of different formats, so far three nations have won the competition. Australia, France and New Zealand are the teams to have played in all tournaments. Since 2000, the RLIF has also organised World Cups for women, students, the 2013 Rugby League World Cup was held in England and Wales and won by Australia. The Rugby League World Cup was an initiative of the French who had been campaigning for a competition since 1935, the idea was raised in 1951 by Paul Barrière, the President of the French Rugby League. In 1952, Rugby Football League secretary Bill Fallowfield persuaded the Rugby League Council to support the concept, in addition to the hosts, the tournament featured teams from Britain, Australia and New Zealand. The 1954 Rugby League World Cup was won by Great Britain who defeated France in Paris on 13 November to claim the title, the World Cup was initially contested by the four Test nations, Australia, Great Britain, France and New Zealand. The teams played each other in a league format, Australia proved victorious on their home ground. After the successful 1960 competition, in which Great Britain won the title for the second time, the competition had been scheduled to be held in France in 1965, this time with the inclusion of the South African team. However, after a tour of Australia, the French withdrew. The tournament was held in 1968, and followed a two-year cycle until the mid-1970s. The 1972 World Cup final ended in a 10-all draw, Great Britain were captained by Welshman, Clive Sullivan who was the first black player to captain any British national sports team. In 1975, the competition underwent a radical overhaul and it was decided to play matches on a home and away basis around the world instead of in any one host nation and the Great Britain team was split into England and Wales. Australia won that tournament and in 1977 it was decided that Great Britain should once more compete as a single entity, from 1985 to 1988, each nation played each other a number of times on a home and away basis. At the end of period, Australia met New Zealand at Eden Park. The match was an encounter, and Australian captain Wally Lewis played part of the match with a broken arm. The Kangaroos won the competition 25-12 and this format was repeated from 1989–1992 and Australia won again, defeating Great Britain 10-6 at Wembley Stadium in front of 73,361 people. This crowd remained a Rugby League World Cup record until beaten by the 74,468 crowd which attended the 2013 World Cup Final at Old Trafford, in 1995, the competition was once again restructured, returning to the traditional host format with ten teams entering
Rugby League World Cup
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Rugby League World Cup
Rugby League World Cup
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Captain of the winning British team,
Dave Valentine, presented with the trophy at the inaugural World Cup in 1954
Rugby League World Cup
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The original and current Rugby League World Cup trophy, commissioned by
Paul Barrière for the 1954 inaugural contest.
Rugby League World Cup
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The
Midland Hotel,
Bradford, whence the trophy was stolen in November 1970. It was not rediscovered for another 20 years.
3.
Rugby League Four Nations
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France accepted an invitation to play in the inaugural tournament in 2009. The tournament is sponsored by Ladbrokes and therefore known as the Ladbrokes Four Nations. No tournament was contested in 2012 to allow teams to prepare for the 2013 Rugby League World Cup, the Four Nations replaced the Tri-Nations tournament that was contested between Australia, New Zealand and Great Britain. The competition ceased in 2006 with the RLIF wanting more nations to play in tournaments with the Big Three. The inaugural Four Nations was played in England and France in 2009 with France qualifying to be the nation via winning the 2005 European Championship. The big three dominated the tournament with Australia beating England in the final, the next tournament was played the following year in 2010 with Australia and New Zealand hosting the tournament. PNG qualified as the nation through the 2009 Pacific Cup. The big three again dominated and New Zealand beat Australia in the final for their first title,2011 was the third consecutive tournament being held in England and Wales, Wales qualified by winning the 2010 European Championship. The final was a repeat of 2009 with Australia beating England, the tournament was not played in 2012 to give teams a rest before the 2013 World Cup. The next Four Nations was played in 2014 after the World Cup, the competition was played in the Southern Hemisphere for the first time since 2010 with Samoa qualifying as the fourth nation. Samoa impressed, although they did not win a game they had close games against the big three, New Zealand beat Australia in the final. The next tournament is due to be played in England in 2016, the fourth nation alternates between Europe and the Pacific and to date each tournament has seen a different team take part. Rugby League European Cup decides the qualifier from Europe and the Pacific Rugby League International decides the qualifier from the Pacific, in 2009 a qualifying tournament was held, the Pacific Cup, involving Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Tonga, Fiji and the Cook Islands. The winners, Papua New Guinea, qualified for the 2010 Four Nations, likewise in 2010, the European Nations Cup decided the fourth participant in the 2011 tournament, Wales. In 2014, a game was staged to decide the fourth team for that year with Samoa beating Fiji 32-16. The tournament is organised in round-robin format, each team plays the others once, before the top two teams play each other in a tournament final. The top two teams are calculated using a league table, teams receive,2 points for a win 1 point for a draw 0 points for a loss For and against then separates teams on equal points. To date no fourth nation has appeared in the final of the Four Nations, furthermore, no fourth nation has even won a single game however Scotland managed to draw 18-18 against New Zealand in 2016
Rugby League Four Nations
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Four Nations
4.
Elite One Championship
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The Elite One Championship is the top level rugby league competition in France. The season runs from September to April, the clubs play each other home and away then they enter into a play-off series culminating with a Grand Final. The Elite One Championship was founded in 2002 after the French Rugby League Championship was split into two divisions, the format stayed the same with teams playing each other home and away, before a play-off series would determine the Champions. for winners since 1934
Elite One Championship
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Elite One Championship
5.
Elite Two Championship
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The Elite Two Championship is the second tier semi-professional rugby league competition in France below the Elite One Championship, but above the National Division 1. The season runs from September to April, the clubs play each other home and away before entering into a series of play-off matches resulting in a Grand Final. The winners can gain promotion to the Elite One Championship providing they meet a minimum criteria, occasionally the runners-up could be offered promotion. The league was called the National League 1 from 1958-2002. The Elite Two Championship was formed in 2002 when the French Rugby League Championship was split into two Elite One and Elite Two, there was no competition in 1987 and in 1988 the league was won on league placings and not by a series of play-offs
Elite Two Championship
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Elite Two Championship
6.
Lord Derby Cup
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The Lord Derby Cup, also known as French Rugby à XIII Cup, is the premier knockout competition for the sport of rugby league football in France. It is open to all French rugby league clubs and it was first contested in 1934, the same season as the French Rugby League Championship got under way. The first winner of the cup was US Lyon-Villeurbanne on 5 May 1935 in Toulouse, edward George Villiers Stanley was the honorary president of the Rugby Football League, a politician and had also previously served as the British ambassador in Paris. The game took place on 12 May 1935 in Paris, US Lyon-Villeurbanne won it and were awarded the Trophy, at the following Cup final on 19 April 1936, Côte Basque were awarded the Lord Derby Trophy and it has been competed for ever since. Semi-final 28 April 1940 in Bordeaux, Côte Basque 14–5 XIII Catalan,12 May 1940 in Toulouse, semi-final Pau XIII v AS Carcassonne, game not played because 10 May 1940 the invasion of Belgium, Luxemburg and the Netherlands by Germany. 19 May 1940 in …, no final Côte Basque v Pau XIII or AS Carcassonne, i. e. season 1939–1940, the final between AS Carcassonne and XIII Catalan was cancelled because of the fight at the championship final the previous week. Le Rugby à XIII, Le Plus Français du Monde by Louis Bonnery, The Forbidden Game by Mike Rylance
Lord Derby Cup
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The Lord Derby Cup trophy
7.
Rugby league
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Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field. One of the two codes of football, it originated in England in 1895 as a split from the Rugby Football Union over the issue of payments to players. Its rules gradually changed with the aim of producing a faster, in rugby league, points are scored by carrying the ball and touching it to the ground beyond the opposing teams goal line, this is called a try, and is the primary method of scoring. The opposing team attempts to stop the side scoring points by tackling the player carrying the ball. In addition to tries, points can be scored by kicking goals, after each try, the scoring team gains a free kick to try at goal with a conversion for further points. Kicks at goal may also be awarded for penalties, and field goals can be attempted at any time. Rugby league is a sport in Northern England, the states of Queensland and New South Wales in Australia, New Zealand. The European Super League and Australasian National Rugby League are the club competitions. Rugby league is played internationally, predominantly by European, Australasian and Pacific Island countries, the first Rugby League World Cup was held in France in 1954, the current holders are Australia. The first of these, the Northern Rugby Football Union, was established in 1895 as a faction of Englands Rugby Football Union. Similar breakaway factions split from RFU-affiliated unions in Australia and New Zealand in 1907 and 1908, renaming themselves rugby football leagues, in 1922, the Northern Union also changed its name to the Rugby Football League and thus over time the sport itself became known as rugby league football. In 1895, a schism in Rugby football resulted in the formation of the Northern Rugby Football Union, within fifteen years of that first meeting in Huddersfield, more than 200 RFU clubs had left to join the rugby revolution. In 1897, the line-out was abolished and in 1898 professionalism introduced, in 1906, the Northern Union changed its rules, reducing teams from 15 to 13 a side and replacing the ruck formed after every tackle with the play the ball. A similar schism to that which occurred in England took place in Sydney, There, on 8 August 1907 the New South Wales Rugby Football League was founded at Batemans Hotel in George Street. Rugby league then went on to rugby union as the primary football code in New South Wales. On 5 May 1954 over 100,000 spectators watched the 1953–54 Challenge Cup Final at Odsal Stadium, Bradford, England, also in 1954 the Rugby League World Cup, the first for either code of rugby, was formed at the instigation of the French. In 1966, the International Board introduced a rule that a team in possession was allowed three play-the-balls and on the tackle a scrum was to be formed. This was increased to six tackles in 1972 and in 1983 the scrum was replaced by a handover,1967 saw the first professional Sunday matches of rugby league played
Rugby league
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An attacking player attempts to evade two defenders
Rugby league
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Leeds playing at the 2008
Boxing Day friendly against
Wakefield Trinity at
Headingley
Rugby league
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Rugby league is noted for its hard physical play
Rugby league
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The
2006 NRL Grand Final between
Brisbane Broncos and
Melbourne Storm at
Olympic Stadium, Sydney
8.
Rugby union in France
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Rugby union in France is a popular team sport. Rugby union was first introduced in the early 1870s by British residents, elite French clubs participate in the professional domestic club league, the Top 14. Clubs also compete in the European knock-out competition, the European Rugby Champions Cup, the national side competes annually in the Six Nations Championship, last winning the competition in 2010. France has participated in every Rugby World Cup since its inception in 1987, France also hosted the 2007 Rugby World Cup. France is the worlds most populous country in rugby union has a large and dedicated following. It is more than the populations of other popular rugby nations such as New Zealand, Australia, Tonga, Samoa, Fiji, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales combined. In 1934 the FFR set up the Federation Internationale de Rugby Amateur in an attempt to organize rugby union outside the authority of the International Rugby Football Board and it included the national teams of Italy, France, Catalonia, Czechoslovakia, Romania and Germany. In 1978, the FFR became a member of the IRFB, known from 1998 to 2014 as the International Rugby Board, FIRA adopted its current name of Rugby Europe in 2014. Rugby football was introduced into France by the British in the early 1870s and it was in 1872 that a group of British residents formed the Le Havre Athletique, which played a hybrid form of football, a cross between rugby and soccer, called combination. The English Taylors RFC formed by British businessmen in Paris in 1877, Racing Club de France was formed in 1882 and their rivals Stade Français in 1883. On 20 March 1892 the Union des Sociétés Françaises de Sports Athlétiques organised the first ever French rugby union championship, the game was refereed by Pierre de Coubertin and saw Racing win 4–3. The USFSA remained the controlling body of French rugby, until the formation of the French Rugby Federation in 1920. In 1900, rugby was played at the Paris Summer Olympics, France entered a team, along with Germany, France won the gold medal, the first ever rugby event at the Olympics. In 1905, for the first time, England and France played each other and that same year, the FFR was officially formed. France again participated in rugby at the 1924 Summer Olympics – the last time 15-player rugby would be played as an Olympic sport – where the United States successfully defended their title. The French rugby union was ousted from the Five Nations championship on charges of player violence, in 1934, Rugby league was introduced to France, half a century after the amateur code had established itself in the country. Also in 1934, FIRA was founded by Czechoslovakia, France, Germany, Holland, Italy, Portugal, Romania, Catalonia, during the second World War, the French Rugby Union actively collaborated with the Vichy Regime to have Rugby League banned. In so doing, the Rugby Union were handed all of the vast assets built up by the French Rugby League since 1934, as of 2014, these assets have not been returned to the Rugby League
Rugby union in France
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Romania versus France at the
Inter-Allied Games of 1919
Rugby union in France
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France was a pioneer in
women's rugby union, as seen in this picture of the Lille "barette" team from 1924.
Rugby union in France
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A
Stade Français match at
Parc des Princes.
Rugby union in France
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France's National Rugby Centre located in
Marcoussis.
9.
French Rugby Federation
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The French Rugby Federation is the governing body for rugby union in France. It is responsible for the French national team and the Ligue nationale de rugby that administers the countrys professional leagues and it was formed in 1919 and is affiliated to World Rugby, the sports governing body. It included the teams of Italy, French national team, Catalonia, Czechoslovakia, Romania. Following German occupation, FFR officials closely associated with the Vichy government lobbied to have certain un-French sports banned, between the end of 1940 and the middle of 1942, one semi-professional and at least six French Amateur Sport Federations were banned and destroyed by the Vichy regime. These actions were independently verified by the French government in 2002, in 1978 the Federation became a member of the IRFB, which later became the International Rugby Board and is now World Rugby. France national rugby union team Ligue Nationale de Rugby List of rugby clubs in France Official site
French Rugby Federation
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French Rugby Federation
10.
Vichy France
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Vichy France is the common name of the French State headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II. In particular, it represents the southern, unoccupied Free Zone that governed the southern part of the country, from 1940 to 1942, while the Vichy regime was the nominal government of France as a whole, Germany militarily occupied northern France. Thus, while Paris remained the de jure capital of France, following the Allied landings in French North Africa in November 1942, southern France was also militarily occupied by Germany and Italy. The Vichy government remained in existence, but as a de facto client and it vanished in late 1944 when the Allies occupied all of France. After being appointed Premier by President Albert Lebrun, Marshal Pétain ordered the French Governments military representatives to sign an armistice with Germany on 22 June 1940, Pétain subsequently established an authoritarian regime when the National Assembly of the French Third Republic granted him full powers on 10 July 1940. At that point, the Third Republic was dissolved, calling for National Regeneration, the French Government at Vichy reversed many liberal policies and began tight supervision of the economy, with central planning a key feature. Labour unions came under government control. The independence of women was reversed, with a put on motherhood. Paris lost its status in European art and culture. The media were tightly controlled and stressed virulent anti-Semitism, and, after June 1941, the French State maintained nominal sovereignty over the whole of French territory, but had effective full sovereignty only in the unoccupied southern zone libre. It had limited and only civil authority in the zones under military occupation. The occupation was to be a state of affairs, pending the conclusion of the war. The French Government at Vichy never joined the Axis alliance, Germany kept two million French soldiers prisoner, carrying out forced labour. They were hostages to ensure that Vichy would reduce its forces and pay a heavy tribute in gold, food. French police were ordered to round up immigrant Jews and other such as communists. Public opinion in some quarters turned against the French government and the occupying German forces over time, when it became clear that Germany was losing the war, and resistance to them increased. Most of the legal French governments leaders at Vichy fled or were subject to show trials by the GPRF, thousands of collaborators were summarily executed by local communists and the Resistance in so-called savage purges. The last of the French State exiles were captured in the Sigmaringen enclave by de Gaulles French 1st Armoured Division in April 1945, in 1940, Marshal Pétain was known as a First World War hero, the victor of the battle of Verdun
Vichy France
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French prisoners of war are marched off under German guard, 1940
Vichy France
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Flag
Vichy France
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Philippe Pétain meeting Hitler in October 1940.
Vichy France
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French colonial prisoner in German captivity, 1940. Black troops were treated worse than their white compatriots, and some of them were used for German anthropological and medical experiments.
11.
Catalans Dragons
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The Catalans Dragons are a professional rugby league club in Perpignan, Pyrénées-Orientales, France. They play in the Super League, and are the team in the competition from outside Northern England. The Dragons play home games at Stade Gilbert Brutus, the club was formed in 2000 by a merger of XIII Catalan and AS Saint Estève into Union Treiziste Catalane. They won the 2005 French Rugby League Championship and the Lord Derby Cup in 2004 and 2005, in 2006, they were granted a Super League licence, taking the name Catalans Dragons. UTC continues to compete in the French Championships Elite One Championship as a club for the Dragons. The club was founded in 2000 after the merger of two teams in Perpignan, XIII Catalan and AS Saint Estève, the merged team took the name Union Treiziste Catalane, often abbreviated to UTC. XIII Catalan were founded in 1935 and thus were founding members of the French Championship, during their run, they won 11 French Championships and 11 Lord Derby Cups. AS Saint Estève were founded in 1965 and they won six championships and four Lord Derby Cups. There were two clubs in the twelve-team competition in Pyrénées-Orientales, Pia XIII and Saint-Cyprien. In 2002 Saint-Cyprien joined the merged UTC side, UTC proved successful, winning the 2005 French Championship and the 2004 and 2005 Lord Derby Cups. In 2005, UTC applied to join the Super League, the highest tier of rugby league in Europe. They were selected ahead of Toulouse Olympique and Villeneuve Leopards to enter the league for the 2006 season, the franchise was named Catalans Dragons, UTC remained in the French Championship to serve as a reserve club. The club set a target for 75% of the players be qualified to play for France, the Catalans are not the first French side to play in the Super League, but the first, Paris Saint-Germain, lasted only two seasons. Both rugby codes have their stronghold in the southwest of France, players on loan from French league clubs had to play for their own clubs as well, train in the south and take the long journey to Paris or England for matches. To ensure that the Catalans had the best French players available to them, the league also would not relegate them from the Super League for three years, even if they finished last. Many believe that the Catalans will be joined by other French clubs in the Super League, the Catalans won their first ever Super League match 38–30 against Wigan on 11 February 2006, at Stade Aimé Giral. The club encountered a steep learning curve in their first season in the Super League. Many of less experienced French players ran out of steam towards the end of a gruelling, a particular loss was that of key playmaker and Captain Stacey Jones, who missed much of the season with a broken arm
Catalans Dragons
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The Catalans Dragons team playing at Gilbert Brutus in 2009
Catalans Dragons
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Catalans Dragons
Catalans Dragons
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Catalans Dragons supporters at
Headingley in
Leeds,
England.
12.
Super League
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Super League is the top-level professional rugby league club competition in the Northern hemisphere. The league has twelve teams, eleven from England and one from France, canadian and Welsh clubs that also compete in the Rugby Football League can also qualify. Commonally known in the UK as the Super League it is referred to internationally as the European Super League, the current champions are Wigan Warriors. Super League began in 1996, replacing the RFL Championship and switching from a winter to a summer season, each team plays 23 games between February and July,11 home games,11 away games and a Magic Weekend game at a neutral venue. After 23 games, teams enter a Super 8 stage, the top eight play each other once more, the top four then enter the play-off series leading to the Grand Final which determines the champions. The bottom four teams go on to play the top four Championship teams in The Qualifiers to determine who will play in Super League the following season, Leeds Rhinos are the most successful club in the Super League era, having won 7 titles. However, Wigan Warriors are the most successful overall, having won 21 British Championships. The Super League champions play the National Rugby League champions from Australasia in the World Club Challenge at the start of the season, murdoch also approached the British clubs to form Super League. A large sum of money aided the decision, and the competition got under way in 1996, part of the deal saw rugby league switch from a winter to a summer season. The 12 founding teams of Super League were, Bradford Bulls Castleford Tigers Halifax Leeds Rhinos London Broncos Oldham Roughyeds Paris Saint-Germain Sheffield Eagles St. C, however this proved so unpopular that only existing clubs were selected for the competition. London Broncos, who had come fourth in the Second Division, were fast-tracked in on commercial grounds, a new team, Paris Saint-Germain, was created to give a French dimension. Between 1998 and 2000 there was no relegation from Super League, after two years Paris were dropped from the competition. In 2006, French side Catalans Dragons from Perpignan joined the league, Super League licences were announced in May 2005 by the RFL as the new determinant of the Super League competitions participants from 2009 in place of promotion and relegation. The licences were awarded after consideration of more factors than just the performance of a club. After 2007 automatic promotion and relegation was suspended for Super League with new teams to be admitted on a basis with the term of the licence to start in 2009. The RFL stated that applying to compete in Super League would be assessed by criteria in four areas with the final evaluations and decisions being taken by the RFL board of directors. Points attained by each application are translated into licence grades A, B or C. First licensing period In June 2008, the RFL confirmed that Super League would be expanded from 12 teams to 14 in 2009, the teams announced were the 12 existing Super League teams along with National League 1 teams, Celtic Crusaders and Salford
Super League
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First Utility Super League sponsorship logo used by the media and on players shirt
Super League
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Super League
13.
History of rugby league
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Similar schisms occurred later in Australia and New Zealand in 1907. Gradually the rugby played in these breakaway competitions evolved into a separate sport that took its name from the professional leagues that administered it. Rugby league in England went on to set attendance and player payment records, the game also developed a significant place in the culture of France, New Zealand and several other Pacific Island nations, such as Papua New Guinea, where it has become the national sport. Although many forms of football had been played across the world, in 1871, English clubs playing the version of football played at Rugby School which involved much more handling of the ball than in association football, met to form the Rugby Football Union. Many new rugby clubs were formed, and it was in the Northern English counties of Lancashire and Yorkshire that the game really took hold, here rugby was largely a working class game, whilst the south eastern clubs were largely middle class. Rugby spread to Australasia, especially the cities of Sydney, Brisbane, Christchurch, here too there was a clear divide between the working and more affluent upper class players. England teams of the era were dominated by Lancashire and Yorkshire players, however these players were forbidden to earn any of the spoils of this newly-rich game. Predominantly working class found it difficult to play to their full potential because in many cases their time to play. A further limit on the ability of working class teams was that working class players had to be careful how hard they played. If injured, they had to pay their own bills and possibly take time off work. In 1892, charges of professionalism were laid against rugby football clubs in Bradford and Leeds, by implication they were arguing that this affected the RFUs decisions on the issue of broken time payments to the detriment of northern clubs, who made up the majority of English rugby clubs. Payment for broken time was a proposal put forward by Yorkshire clubs that would allow players to receive up to six shillings when they missed work because of match commitments, the idea was voted down by the RFU, and widespread suspensions of northern clubs and players began. Two days later, on 29 August 1895, representatives of clubs met in the George Hotel, Huddersfield to form the Northern Rugby Football Union. Twenty clubs agreed to resign from the Rugby Union, but Dewsbury felt unable to comply with the decision. The Cheshire club, Stockport, had telegraphed the meeting requesting admission to the new organisation and was accepted with a second Cheshire club, Runcorn. The rugby union authorities took action, issuing sanctions against clubs, players. This extended even to amateurs who played with or against Northern Union sides, consequently, northern clubs that existed purely for social and recreational rugby began to affiliate to the Northern Union, whilst retaining amateur status. By 1904 the new body had more affiliated to it than the RFU
History of rugby league
History of rugby league
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George Hotel, Huddersfield
History of rugby league
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The first ever Challenge Cup Final, 1897: Batley (left) vs St Helens (right)
History of rugby league
–
Albert Henry Baskerville
14.
Rugby football
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Rugby is a type of football developed at Rugby School in Rugby, Warwickshire, one of many versions of football played at English public schools in the 19th century. The two main types of rugby are rugby league and rugby union, although rugby league initially used rugby union rules, they are now wholly separate sports. Following the 1895 split in rugby football, the two rugby league and rugby union differed in administration only. Soon the rules of rugby league were modified, resulting in two different forms of rugby. After 100 years, in 1995 rugby union joined rugby league, the Greeks and Romans are known to have played many ball games, some of which involved the use of the feet. These games appear to have resembled rugby football, the Roman politician Cicero describes the case of a man who was killed whilst having a shave when a ball was kicked into a barbers shop. Roman ball games already knew the air-filled ball, the follis, episkyros is recognised as an early form of football by FIFA. In 1871, English clubs met to form the Rugby Football Union, in 1892, after charges of professionalism were made against some clubs for paying players for missing work, the Northern Rugby Football Union, usually called the Northern Union, was formed. The existing rugby union authorities responded by issuing sanctions against the clubs, players, after the schism, the separate clubs were named rugby league and rugby union. Rugby union is both a professional and amateur game, and is dominated by the first tier unions, Argentina, Australia, England, France, Ireland, Italy, New Zealand, Scotland, South Africa and Wales. Rugby Union is administered by World Rugby, whose headquarters are located in Dublin and it is the national sport in New Zealand, Wales, Fiji, Samoa, Tonga and Madagascar, and is the most popular form of rugby globally. The Olympic Games have admitted the seven-a-side version of the game, known as Rugby sevens, there was a possibility sevens would be a demonstration sport at the 2012 London Olympics but many sports including sevens were dropped. In Canada and the United States, rugby union evolved into gridiron football, during the late 1800s, the two forms of the game were very similar, but numerous rule changes have differentiated the gridiron-based game from its rugby counterpart. Rugby league is also both a professional and amateur game, administered on a level by the Rugby League International Federation. International Rugby League is dominated by Australia, England and New Zealand, in Papua New Guinea it is the national sport. Other nations from the South Pacific and Europe also play in the Pacific Cup, distinctive features common to both rugby codes include the oval ball and throwing the ball forward is not allowed, so that players can gain ground only by running with the ball or by kicking it. As the sport of rugby league moved further away from its counterpart, rule changes were implemented with the aim of making a faster-paced. League players may not contest possession after making a tackle, play is continued with a play-the-ball, in league, if the team in possession fails to score before a set of six tackles, it surrenders possession
Rugby football
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Rugby School where Rugby football began
Rugby football
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Rugby union: A
scrum between the
Crusaders and
Brumbies (May 2006)
Rugby football
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Rugby league: Australia's
Paul Gallen looks to offload the ball from a tackle. (
2008 World Cup)
Rugby football
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Ancient Greek episkyros player on an
Attic lekythos
15.
Home Nations
–
The Home Nations, or Home Countries, refers collectively to England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, and in certain sports contexts, to England, Scotland, Wales and the whole island of Ireland. The term Home Countries is also used, and is synonymous. The Crown Dependencies are not part of the United Kingdom, but are associated with it. In association football, the Home Nations originally referred to the four national teams of the United Kingdom, England, Ireland, Scotland. The English Football Association, and the media used the term Home Nations to describe the parties to the debate. In the event, a team consisting only of English and Welsh players took part, in 1883, the first Home Nations Championship was played between England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. At this point in its history, the competition contained only teams from the UK, in 1910, France officially joined the competition and it was renamed the Five Nations Championship. Since the admission of Italy in 2000, the tournament has been known by its current name, victory by any Home Nation over the other three Home Nations is a Triple Crown. The Home Nations also contribute players to a team known as the British and Irish Lions. Southern Hemisphere teams who beat all four nations in one tour are said to have a Grand Slam Tour. The Amateur Four Nations competition in rugby league, run annually from 2002 to 2007 for the A sides of Wales, terminology of the British Isles Countries of the United Kingdom
Home Nations
–
A map of the Home Nations of the
UK White:
England; Yellow:
Northern Ireland; Blue:
Scotland; and Red:
Wales
16.
Rugby Union
–
Rugby union, known in some parts of the world simply as rugby, is a contact team sport which originated in England in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its most common form, a game is between two teams of 15 players using a ball on a rectangular field with H-shaped goalposts on each try line. Historically an amateur sport, in 1995 restrictions on payments to players were removed, World Rugby, originally the International Rugby Football Board and from 1998 to 2014 the International Rugby Board, has been the governing body for rugby union since 1886. Rugby union spread from the Home Nations of Great Britain and Ireland, early exponents of the sport included Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and France. Countries that have adopted rugby union as their de facto national sport include Fiji, Georgia, Madagascar, New Zealand, Samoa, Tonga, Rugby union is played in over 100 countries across six continents, there are 101 full members and 18 associate members of World Rugby. The Rugby World Cup, first held in 1987, takes place four years with the winner of the tournament receiving the Webb Ellis Cup. The Six Nations Championship in Europe and The Rugby Championship in the Southern Hemisphere are major annual competitions. The origin of football is reputed to be an incident during a game of English school football at Rugby School in 1823. Although the evidence for the story is doubtful, it was immortalised at the school with a plaque unveiled in 1895, despite the doubtful evidence, the Rugby World Cup trophy is named after Webb Ellis. Rugby football stems from the form of game played at Rugby School, Old Rugbeian Albert Pell, a student at Cambridge, is credited with having formed the first football team. During this early period different schools used different rules, with pupils from Rugby. Other important events include the Blackheath Clubs decision to leave the Football Association in 1863, despite the sports full name of rugby union, it is known simply as rugby throughout most of the world. The first rugby football international was played on 27 March 1871 between Scotland and England, by 1881 both Ireland and Wales had representative teams, and in 1883 the first international competition, the Home Nations Championship had begun. 1883 is also the year of the first rugby tournament, the Melrose Sevens. During the early history of union, a time before commercial air travel. The first two notable tours both took place in 1888—the British Isles team touring New Zealand and Australia, followed by the New Zealand team touring Europe, All three teams brought new styles of play, fitness levels and tactics, and were far more successful than critics had expected. After Morgan began singing, the crowd joined in, the first time a national anthem was sung at the start of a sporting event, in 1905 France played England in its first international match
Rugby Union
–
South African
Victor Matfield takes a line-out against New Zealand in 2006.
Rugby Union
–
Rugby School in
Rugby, Warwickshire, with a rugby football pitch in the foreground
Rugby Union
–
James Ryan, captain of the New Zealand Army team, receiving the Kings Cup from George V.
Rugby Union
–
Sébastien Chabal (far left) in number eight position before entering the scrum.
17.
Five Nations Championship
–
The Six Nations Championship is an annual international rugby union competition involving six European sides, England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. The current champions are England, having won the 2017 tournament, the Six Nations is the successor to the Home Nations Championship, played between teams from England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales, which was the first international rugby union tournament. With the addition of France, this became the Five Nations Championship, the winners of the Six Nations Championship are sometimes unofficially referred to in the media as the European Champions or Northern Hemisphere Champions. Since the Six Nations era started in 2000, only Italy and Scotland have failed to win the Six Nations title, although Scotland were the last outright winners of the Five Nations. Played annually, the format of the Championship is simple, each team every other team once. Prior to the 2017 tournament, two points were awarded for a win, one for a draw and none for a loss, unlike many other rugby union competitions the bonus point system has not previously been used. On 30 November 2016, the 6 Nations Committee announced that the point system will be trialled for the 2017 Championship. The system will be similar to the one used in most rugby championships, a review on how well the system worked will take place following the tournament. If a team wins all its games, they are said to have won a Grand Slam, victory by any Home Nation over the other three Home Nations is a Triple Crown. Although this achievement has long been a feature of the tournament, also, the team that finishes at the bottom of the league table is said to have won the Wooden Spoon, although no actual trophy is given to the team. A team which has lost all five matches is said to have been whitewashed, since the inaugural Six Nations tournament in 2000, only England and Ireland have avoided the Wooden Spoon award. Italy are the holders of the most Wooden Spoon awards in the Six Nations era with eleven, however, each of the other five nations has accumulated more than that through competing in previous eras. Several individual competitions take place under the umbrella of the tournament, the oldest such regular competition is for the Calcutta Cup, contested annually between England and Scotland since 1879. It is named the Calcutta Cup as it is made from melted-down Indian Rupees donated by the Calcutta Club, prior to 1994, teams equal on match points shared the championship. Since then, ties have been broken by considering the difference of the teams. The rules of the championship further provide that if teams tie on both points and points difference, the team which scored the most tries wins the championship. Were this decider to be a tie, the teams would share the championship. To date, however, match points and points difference have been sufficient to decide the championship, the winners of the Six Nations are presented with the Championship Trophy
Five Nations Championship
–
The Original Six Nations Championship Trophy (1993-2014) and The Triple Crown Trophy
Five Nations Championship
–
The official RBS 6 Nations logo
Five Nations Championship
–
The
Aviva Stadium,
Dublin
18.
Harry Sunderland
–
Harry Sunderland was an Australian rugby league football administrator and journalist. Sunderland was born in Gympie, Queensland in 1889, from 1913 to 1922, Sunderland was the Queensland Rugby Leagues secretary. His administration is credited with the growth of the League in Queensland despite the First World War, however towards the end of his tenure with the QRL, player discontent with his administration led to the breakway formation of the Brisbane Rugby League. Sunderland was the manager for the 1929–30 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain. On 25 October 1938 Sunderland arrived in Wigan to take up the duties of Secretary-Manager at Central Park, on 28 September the following year, his contract was terminated and he and the club parted company. At the start of the 1950s he submitted a plan to the Australian Rugby League Board of Control for promoting rugby league in the United States. After moving to Melbourne, Victoria where he attempted to promote rugby league, Sunderland returned north. He later moved to England where he became manager of the Wigan Rugby League Football Club, since his death in Chorlton upon Medlock, Manchester in 1964, the Harry Sunderland Trophy has been awarded to the man-of-the-match in the European Super League Grand Final. In addition, the Harry Sunderland Medal is the given to the best Australian player in each home Ashes series. Harry Sunderland at the Online Dictionary of Australian Biographies
Harry Sunderland
–
Harry Sunderland
Harry Sunderland
–
Sunderland with 1937-38 Kangaroos (2nd left, back row)
Harry Sunderland
–
Australian Test side v England 6 Jun 1932, Sunderland (mgr) seated far left
19.
Australian Rugby League
–
The Australian Rugby Football League, more commonly known as the Australian Rugby League, was the governing body for the sport of rugby league football in Australia. The ARL, as an entity, was handed over to the new Australian Rugby League Commission. At 9, 30am on 9 February 2012, since its inception the ARL administered the Australian national team and represented Australia in international rugby league matters. During the mid-1990s Super League war the ARL administered the countrys first-grade premiership until the National Rugby League was formed, the legal hand-over from ARL to ARL Commission ensured that the game has effectively had the same governing body across Australia, since 1924. George Ball was the first secretary of the Board and John La Maro the first chairman, prior to this time, international rugby league was organised by both the NSWRL and the QRL. It was only after this time that the Australian team began to wear the now familiar sporting colours of Green, in 1984 the ARL was duly incorporated, as a separate entity, and Ken Arthurson was the first executive chairman of the new body. With national expansion of the competition implemented for the 1995 season the NSWRL passed control of the Winfield Cup competition to the ARL, Super League successfully attracted eight of the ARL clubs. In the 1995 State of Origin series, the ARL forbade the players of those eight clubs participating in the interstate competition. However, those clubs were allowed to participate in the seasons of 1995 and 1996. However, Super League conducted a competition in 1997. Both the ARL and Super League competitions ran parallel to other that year. As a consequence of the negotiations that followed, the National Rugby League was formed before the 1998 season from the ARL, between 1998 season and the first few months of the 2012 season the ARL had six out of twelve seats on the NRL Partnership board. In 2012 News Limited exited the game and the ARL was fully incorporated into the new, during the Super League war of the mid-1990s the ARL also administered Australias club premiership. ARL Development is a company that was formed by the ARL to develop the sport from an introductory level to the age of 18 years. In achieving this, ARL Development has developed new modified codes that gradually introduce children to rugby league and this is done by restricting the rules and then gradually releasing these restrictions. The two introductory modified codes currently in use are mini footy and mod league, on completion of mod league, players make a move to full international rugby league laws. Ownership of ARL Development was transferred to the Australian Rugby League Commission in 2012, the ARL constitution ARL One Community Australian Rugby League official website
Australian Rugby League
–
Logo ARL
20.
Rugby Football League
–
The Rugby Football League is the governing body for professional rugby league in England. The name Rugby Football League previously also referred to the league competition run by the organisation. This has since been supplanted by Super League, the Championship, based at Red Hall in Leeds, it administers the England national rugby league team, the Challenge Cup, Super League and the Rugby League Championships. The social and junior game is administered in association with the British Amateur Rugby League Association, the Rugby Football League is a member of the Rugby League European Federation and as a senior Full Member has a combined veto power over the Council with France. The RFL is part of the Community Board, which also has representatives from BARLA, Combined Services, English Schools Rugby League, eventually the Northern was dropped from its name at the beginning of the 1980s. The turnover of the RFL was reported as £27m in 2011, two days later, on Thursday 29 August 1895, representatives of 21 clubs met in the George Hotel, Huddersfield to form the Northern Rugby Football Union. Twenty clubs agreed to resign from the Rugby Football Union, the Cheshire club, Stockport, had telegraphed the meeting requesting admission to the new organisation and was duly accepted with a second Cheshire club, Runcorn, admitted at the next meeting. The 22 clubs and their years of foundation were, In 1908 the Northern Unions brand of rugby was taken up in Australia, the Union hosted touring sides from both countries before assembling a Great Britain representative team for a 1910 tour of Australia and New Zealand. These nations, particularly Australia, would go on to excel in the sport, the British Amateur Rugby League Association was created in 1973 in Huddersfield by a group of enthusiasts concerned about the dramatic disappearance of many amateur leagues and clubs. Fewer than 150 amateur teams remained with a mere 30 youth rugby league teams, the breakaway from the RFL was acrimonious and was strongly contested, with a vote 29-1 against recognising BARLA. Thanks to Tom Mitchell, this changed to a vote of approval for BARLA within 12 months. Maurice Lindsay became the Chief Executive of the RFL in 1992, proposing the Super League, Lindsay returned to Wigan in 1999 for his second stint at the club after Sir Rodney Walker, then chairman of the RFL, sacked him after a campaign to unseat him failed. The RFL accumulated losses of £1.9 million at the end of 2001, shortly before a restructuring of the governing body. Within a year of joining the RFL, he oversaw reunification with BARLA after nearly 30 years of division, Lewis left in 2012 to become Chief Executive of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club. The RFL net value has been every year since 2004. The regional leagues may include winter competitions in addition, in 2012, the Rugby Football League were awarded the Stonewall Sport Award in recognition of their work in embracing inclusivity and tackling homophobia. They also became the first UK sporting organisation to make the top 100 employers in the Stonewall Index that measures attitudes towards lesbian, gay and bisexual staff. The RFL operates a system and is responsible for running the top three professional divisions as well as the National Conference League and various regional leagues below that
Rugby Football League
–
The Northern Rugby Football Union Challenge Cup 1896
Rugby Football League
–
Rugby Football League
Rugby Football League
–
Red Hall, RFL HQ
Rugby Football League
–
Entrance hall to the Headquarters building
21.
Stade Pershing
–
Stade Pershing was a multi-purpose stadium in the Bois de Vincennes in Paris, France. It was used mostly for football matches and hosted the final of the Coupe de France on four occasions and it hosted the Inter-Allied Games in 1919 and the first Womens World Games in 1922. It also hosted some of the matches during the 1924 Summer Olympics. The stadium was able to hold 29,000 spectators at its height, it opened in 1919 and its area currently hosts baseball games. The stadium was built as the Pershing Stadium by the US Military at the end of World War I and it hosted the Inter-Allied Games, and then was presented as a gift from the USA to France after the games concluded. An exhibition match at Stade Pershing between the Great Britain and Australian national rugby league teams in December 1933 inspired the beginnings of rugby league in France
Stade Pershing
–
Inter-Allied Games 1919
22.
Paris
–
Paris is the capital and most populous city of France. It has an area of 105 square kilometres and a population of 2,229,621 in 2013 within its administrative limits, the agglomeration has grown well beyond the citys administrative limits. By the 17th century, Paris was one of Europes major centres of finance, commerce, fashion, science, and the arts, and it retains that position still today. The aire urbaine de Paris, a measure of area, spans most of the Île-de-France region and has a population of 12,405,426. It is therefore the second largest metropolitan area in the European Union after London, the Metropole of Grand Paris was created in 2016, combining the commune and its nearest suburbs into a single area for economic and environmental co-operation. Grand Paris covers 814 square kilometres and has a population of 7 million persons, the Paris Region had a GDP of €624 billion in 2012, accounting for 30.0 percent of the GDP of France and ranking it as one of the wealthiest regions in Europe. The city is also a rail, highway, and air-transport hub served by two international airports, Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Paris-Orly. Opened in 1900, the subway system, the Paris Métro. It is the second busiest metro system in Europe after Moscow Metro, notably, Paris Gare du Nord is the busiest railway station in the world outside of Japan, with 262 millions passengers in 2015. In 2015, Paris received 22.2 million visitors, making it one of the top tourist destinations. The association football club Paris Saint-Germain and the rugby union club Stade Français are based in Paris, the 80, 000-seat Stade de France, built for the 1998 FIFA World Cup, is located just north of Paris in the neighbouring commune of Saint-Denis. Paris hosts the annual French Open Grand Slam tennis tournament on the red clay of Roland Garros, Paris hosted the 1900 and 1924 Summer Olympics and is bidding to host the 2024 Summer Olympics. The name Paris is derived from its inhabitants, the Celtic Parisii tribe. Thus, though written the same, the name is not related to the Paris of Greek mythology. In the 1860s, the boulevards and streets of Paris were illuminated by 56,000 gas lamps, since the late 19th century, Paris has also been known as Panam in French slang. Inhabitants are known in English as Parisians and in French as Parisiens and they are also pejoratively called Parigots. The Parisii, a sub-tribe of the Celtic Senones, inhabited the Paris area from around the middle of the 3rd century BC. One of the areas major north-south trade routes crossed the Seine on the île de la Cité, this place of land and water trade routes gradually became a town
Paris
–
In the 1860s Paris streets and monuments were illuminated by 56,000 gas lamps, making it literally "The City of Light."
Paris
Paris
–
Gold coins minted by the Parisii (1st century BC)
Paris
–
The
Palais de la Cité and
Sainte-Chapelle, viewed from the Left Bank, from the
Très Riches Heures du duc de Berry (month of June) (1410)
23.
1921-22 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain
–
The 1921–22 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain was the third ever Kangaroo tour. Again an Australasian side rather than an Australian team alone travelled to Great Britain to contest The Ashes, coached by Arthur Hennessy and captained by Les Cubitt, the Kangaroos travelled on the RMS Tahiti to England for best-of-three series of Test matches against Great Britain for the Ashes. The tour took place during the 1921–22 Northern Rugby Football Union season, the team wore the sky blue jersey of New South Wales and the only non-New South Welsh player to appear in a test was Queenslander Billy Richards in the third. Billy Cann was co-manager of the Australasian touring squad along with Souths secretary, secretary of the Queensland Rugby League, and football journalist Harry Sunderland also accompanied the team. On this tour Sandy Pearce at 38 years of age became the oldest Australian international player, early in the 1921 NSWRFL season, players who were selected had to leave their clubs for the tour. Before sailing for England the team stopped in New Zealand for a match at the Basin Reserve in Wellington. Also during the tour, the Northern Rugby Football Union tried to arrange a match in Paris, australasia led 5-3 at the break and the match seemed to be theirs when Frank Burge scored a late try, but it was disallowed by referee Frank Renton. Thus, a sole second-half try from the British close to full-time was enough for them to win it, at halftime York led 4 -3 in a game that was characterised by rough and scrambling play, minor injuries being numerous. In the second Test the scores were 2-all at half-time, but after that the Australian backline of Horder, Carstairs, Vest, the Kangaroos scored 4 tries to nil, the win setting up the third and final Test as the Ashes decider. This was also the last Test in the career of Sandy Pearce. Among those present for this match was the UKs Speaker of the House of Commons, the half-time score was 18 -3 in favour of the visitors, who were without Dick Vest due to ill health. The decider was played on a heavy, snow-bound field, much to the dismay of the fleet-footed Kangaroos, early in the match the Australians were reduced to twelve men when Chook Fraser suffered a broken leg. In what was described as an encounter, Herman Hilton took a pass from his captain. The final score was 6 -0 in favour of the home side, by winning this third and deciding test of the series, Britain claimed the Ashes. Other winger, Harold Horder scored 35, and forward Frank Burge was not far behind with 33 tries from 23 games, the team travelled back to Australia on the Orvieto, arriving in Fremantle in February 1922. 1921-22 Australasian Football Team Touring Great Britain - Souvenir Ashes Series 1921/22 at rugbyleagueproject. org
1921-22 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain
–
Tour match photo taken at Barrow.
24.
Jean Galia
–
Jean Galia was a French rugby union and rugby league footballer and champion boxer. He is credited with establishing the sport of rugby league in France in 1934, presenting it also through the expression, playing in the forwards, Galia made his international debut for the France national rugby union team in a 1927 test against England in Paris. Following Frances tour of Northern England, Galia arranged a series of demonstration matches around France, in 1988 Galia was inducted into the Rugby League Hall of Fame
Jean Galia
–
Jean Galia
25.
England national rugby league team
–
The England national rugby league team represent England in international rugby league football tournaments. The team has now seen a revival, having formed from the Great Britain team. The team is run under the auspices of the Rugby Football League, as of 2008, the team now participates in all World Cups, Four Nations and test matches. The team dates back to 1904 when they played against a mixture of Welsh and Scottish players in Wigan, since then, and until the 1950s, they regularly toured Australia and New Zealand and played both home and away matches against neighbours Wales and France. But when it was decided that Great Britain would tour the Southern Hemisphere instead of England, France, even then though, there are some long periods where England barely played any matches. Their first appearance in the Rugby League World Cup was in 1975, and since then they have become runners-up in 1975 and 1995, in 2008, they competed in the 2008 World Cup in Australia. For many years England also competed in the European Nations Cup and in 2006, in the past Englands main rivals have been Wales and France, with the rivalry stretching back to 1908 and 1934 respectively. However, Englands main rivals would now be Australia, New Zealand and, to a lesser extent, traditionally a predominantly white kit is worn including white shorts and socks. However the jersey usually features some form of red, like red stripes, crosses or chevrons and these colours are similar to other English sporting teams and are the colours used on the national flag. In 2008 a new kit was introduced featuring a red cross on the front and red strips down the sides of the jersey, shorts and socks were white too with red strips. Also in 2008, the Rugby Football League chose to abandon the traditional English lion on the badge in favour of a simpler shield. Currently the team is ranked third in the world, behind Australia, wayne Bennett is the head coach and Sam Burgess is the current captain. In 1895 twenty-one clubs split with the Rugby Football Union, citing that they wanted to play professionally, the twenty-one clubs were all from Northern England and the players were largely working class. However it was not just English players who made the switch, Scottish and Welsh players also switched allegiance to the new code, switching heightened in the early 20th century with more Scottish and Welsh players leaving the RFU than ever before. At the start of 1903 season the Northern Union thought about international matches, on that day though, the ground was frosty and the match was cancelled and it was rescheduled for April. On 5 April 1904 England competed against a team called Other Nationalities and it was a period of experimentation for the Northern Union and each team had twelve players, not thirteen. At Central Park, Wigan the ground was muddy and in poor condition, England steamed into a 3–0 lead, from a try by Warringtons Jackie Fish. This is despite Salfords James Lomas arriving late and causing England to start the match with eleven players, Fish missed the conversion and so the Other Nationalities were able to level the scores a little later, Welshman Thomas crashing over for a try
England national rugby league team
–
England at the
2008 RLWC
England national rugby league team
England national rugby league team
–
The old logo was used until 2008.
26.
Wales national rugby league team
–
The Wales national rugby league team represents Wales in international rugby league football matches. Currently the team is eighth in the RLIF World Rankings, the team was run under the auspices of the Rugby Football League, but an independent body, Wales Rugby League, now runs the team from Cardiff. A total of three Welsh players have entered into the Rugby League Hall Of Fame. Similar to many other Welsh national sporting teams, Wales strip has been primarily red for many years, however, in their last World Cup campaign in 2000 they did wear a shirt featuring the Welsh flag, adding a touch of green and white. The team is known as The Dragons and so the logo on the shirt is a red dragon. The team date back to 1907, making them the third oldest national side after England, and it was a touring New Zealand side that Wales first played against in 1908, winning 9–8 at Aberdare. For 26 years Wales competed against their two biggest rivals, England and France, in the European Nations Cup, winning the four times. Wales have also competed in the World Cup on four occasions, in 1995 and 2000 they had their most successful tournaments to date, surprisingly making the Semi-Finals on both occasions before being beaten by England and Australia respectively. Wales failed to qualify for the 2008 World Cup, being the second highest ranked side not to do so, having lost to Scotland on points difference over two matches. In 2014 former England and France coach John Kear became the new coach after Iestyn Harris left the post to concentrate on his new job as head coach at Salford Red Devils. On 5 April 1904, England played a match against the Other Nationalities. Of the twelve players who played for the Other Nationalities team, as it was a 12-a-side game, after 80 minutes however, the Other Nationalities had beaten England 9–3. Nevertheless, this carried on for another two years, playing England annually in 1905 and 1906, losing 26–11 and drawing 3–3 respectively. From 1905 to 1910 Rugby League as a sport enjoyed growth, not just in Wales and England, the Welsh rugby league team were contesting their first national fixture, and managed to beat the touring Kiwis 9–8 in Aberdare in front of 20,000 spectators. At the end of 1908 Wales played their third and final fixture of the decade, playing England again, but this time in Broughton, Lancashire. However, in 1909 another victory was to occur for Welsh Rugby League, in the years before the outbreak of the war, Wales regularly played England. The two national teams played each other every year, including 1914. On the 7 October 1911 Wales played Australia for the first time, the match, held at Ebbw Vale again, drew 7,000 people to watch Wales go down 20–28
Wales national rugby league team
Wales national rugby league team
–
Jim Sullivan, born in
Cardiff, first played for Wales on the 21 December 1920 against
Australia and played a then record 26 times for Wales throughout the 1920s and 1930s. This picture depicts him with the Championship Trophy for
Wigan.
Wales national rugby league team
–
Wales played Papua New Guinea on the Kumuls tour of Europe. The match finished 50-10 in favour of Wales.
27.
Popular Front (France)
–
Blums government implemented various social reforms. All employees were assured a two-week paid vacation, and the rights of unions were strengthened, the socialist movements euphoria was apparent in SFIO member Marceau Piverts Tout est possible. However, the continued to stall, by 1938 production still had not recovered to 1929 levels. Blum was forced to stop his reforms and devalue the franc, with the French Senate controlled by conservatives, Blum, and thus the whole Popular Front, fell out of power in June 1937. Blum was then replaced by Camille Chautemps, a Radical, but Blum came back as President of the Council in March 1938, before being succeeded by Édouard Daladier, another Radical, the next month. After one year of activity, it lost its spirit by June 1937. The Socialists were forced out, only the Radicals were left and it failed to live up to the expectations of the left. The workers did gain new rights, but their 48 percent increase in wages was offset by a 46 percent rise in prices. Unemployment remained high, and overall production was stagnant. France joined other nations and refused to help the Spanish Republicans in the Spanish Civil War, the refusal bitterly disappointed the French Left. The idea of a Popular Front came from two directions, first, the view, following the 6 February 1934 riots, that the far-right had tried to organize a coup détat against the Republic. Thus, both the consequences of the 1934 riots, which had removed the second Cartel des gauches from power, the Radicals were at the time the largest party in the Chamber, governing throughout most of the Third Republic. The first Popular Front cabinet consisted of 20 Socialists,13 Radicals, through the 1936 Matignon Accords, the Popular Front government introduced new labor laws. Ensured that there would be no retaliation against strikers, the government sought to carry out its reforms as rapidly as possible. On 11 June, the Chamber of Deputies voted for the forty-hour workweek, the restoration of civil servants salaries, the Senate voted in favour of these laws within a week. The Blum administration democratised the Bank of France by enabling all shareholders to attend meetings, other measures carried out by the Popular Front government improved the pay, pensions, allowances and tax-obligations of public-sector workers and ex-servicemen. The 1920 Sales Tax, opposed by the Left as a tax on consumers, was abolished and replaced by a production tax, which was considered to be a tax on the producer instead of the consumer. The government also made some changes to the civil service, such as a new director-general for the Paris police
Popular Front (France)
–
general election of 3 May 1936
28.
Charles de Gaulle
–
Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle was a French general and statesman. He was the leader of Free France and the head of the Provisional Government of the French Republic, in 1958, he founded the Fifth Republic and was elected as the 18th President of France, a position he held until his resignation in 1969. He was the dominant figure of France during the Cold War era, born in Lille, he graduated from Saint-Cyr in 1912. He was an officer of the First World War, wounded several times. During the interwar period, he advocated mobile armoured divisions, during the German invasion of May 1940, he led an armoured division which counterattacked the invaders, he was then appointed Under-Secretary for War. Refusing to accept his governments armistice with Nazi Germany, de Gaulle exhorted the French population to resist occupation and he led a government in exile and the Free French Forces against the Axis. Despite frosty relations with Britain and especially the United States, he emerged as the leader of the French resistance. He became Head of the Provisional Government of the French Republic in June 1944, frustrated by the return of petty partisanship in the new Fourth Republic, he resigned in early 1946 but continued to be politically active as founder of the RPF party. He retired in the early 1950s and wrote his War Memoirs, when the Algerian War was ripping apart the unstable Fourth Republic, the National Assembly brought him back to power during the May 1958 crisis. De Gaulle founded the Fifth Republic with a presidency. He granted independence to Algeria and progressively to other French colonies and he restored cordial Franco-German relations to create a European counterweight between the Anglo-American and Soviet spheres of influence. However, he opposed any development of a supranational Europe, favouring a Europe of sovereign nations, De Gaulle openly criticised the US intervention in Vietnam and the exorbitant privilege of the US dollar. In his later years, his support for an independent Quebec, De Gaulle resigned in 1969 after losing a referendum in which he proposed more decentralization. He died a year later at his residence in Colombey-les-Deux-Églises, leaving his Presidential memoirs unfinished, many French political parties and figures claim the Gaullist legacy. De Gaulle was ranked as Le Plus Grand Français de tous les temps, De Gaulle was born in the industrial region of Lille in the Nord departement, the third of five children. He was raised in a devoutly Catholic and traditional family and his father, Henri de Gaulle, was a professor of history and literature at a Jesuit college who eventually founded his own school. Henri de Gaulle came from a line of parliamentary gentry from Normandy and Burgundy. De Gaulles mother, Jeanne, descended from a family of entrepreneurs from Lille
Charles de Gaulle
–
Charles de Gaulle in 1961
Charles de Gaulle
–
De Gaulle's birth house in
Lille, now a national museum
Charles de Gaulle
–
A plaque in
Dinant commemorating the place where Charles de Gaulle, then an infantry lieutenant, was wounded while crossing the
Meuse in 1914
Charles de Gaulle
–
Charles de Gaulle (far right) with
Andrew McNaughton,
Władysław Sikorski, and
Winston Churchill
29.
1954 Rugby League World Cup
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The 1954 Rugby League World Cup was rugby league footballs first World Cup and was held in France in October-November 1954. Officially known as the Rugby World Cup, four nations competed in the tournament, Australia, France, Great Britain, a group stage was held first, with Great Britain topping the table as a result of points difference. They went on to defeat France in the final, which was held at Paris Parc des Princes before approximately 31,000 spectators. The prime instigators behind the idea of holding a rugby league cup were the French. The first rugby league cup was an unqualified success. It was played in a good spirit, provided an excellent standard of play and was a fitting celebration of Frances 20th anniversary as a rugby league-playing nation. The trophy, which was donated by the French, was eight million francs. The World Cup was a French initiative, led by Paul Barrière, who donated the Rugby League World Cup trophy himself, they had been campaigning for such a tournament since before the Second World War. Teams from Australia, Great Britain, New Zealand and the United States were invited to join the hosts, France, however, the tournament was not held until 1954, with all teams except the United States participating. The uncertainty of the outcome was of particular interest. In the early 1950s all four competing nations were quite capable of beating each other – no test series in the period was a foregone conclusion, if there were a favourite it was Australia who had just won back the Ashes. However, in 1953 they had lost series to both the French and the Kiwis, while Great Britain had defeated New Zealand on the half of their 1954 Australasian tour. The captains for this event were Puig-Aubert, Cyril Eastlake, Clive Churchill. The referees were Warringtons Charlie Appleton and Rene Guidicelli, Rugby League – Contributing to New Zealands Future. Archived from the original on 1 October 2010
1954 Rugby League World Cup
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Parc des Princes
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The Parc des Princes is an all-seater football stadium in Paris, France. The stadium, with a capacity of 48,583 spectators, has been the home pitch of Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain since 1974. Before the opening of the Stade de France in 1998, it was also the home arena of the French national football, the Parc des Princes pitch is surrounded by four covered all-seater stands, officially known as the Présidentielle Francis Borelli, Auteuil, Paris and Boulogne Stands. Conceived by architect Roger Taillibert, the current version of the Parc des Princes officially opened on 4 June 1972, the stadium is the third to have been built on the site, the first opening its doors in 1897 and the second following in 1932. The Parisians recorded their highest average attendance during the 2015–16 season. Meanwhile, the record home attendance was registered in 1983. However, the French national rugby team holds the stadiums attendance record. They defeated Wales 31–12 in the 1989 Five Nations Championship in front of 50,370 spectators, originally, the site on which the pitch of Paris Saint-Germain stands was a hunting ground for members of the royal family in the 18th century, before the fall of the Bastille. This anecdote gave its name to the Stade Vélodrome du Parc des Princes, the “Princes’ Park” began its sporting history as a velodrome in the late 19th century. With 3,200 seats, the velodrome marked the history of cycling, the ground, which featured a cycling track until the end of the 1960s, was the finishing line for the final stage of the Tour de France from its first edition in 1903 until 1967. It also boasts a history as an international rugby venue. But it was not until 1903 that a football match was played at the Parc des Princes. In front of 984 paying spectators, a composed by the best Parisian players suffered a severe defeat to an England squad. Two years later, the French national football team contested their first ever match against Switzerland. However, the Parc des Princes lost protagonism with the construction of the Stade Olympique Yves-du-Manoir for the 1924 Summer Olympics. In 1925, the Paris City Council, which owns the Parc des Princes and this allowed the Société d’Exploitation Sports-Evénements of the Parc to carry out a thorough renovation of the sports arena. The stadium was expanded to 45,000 seats, including 26,000 covered, but the capacity was quickly reduced to 38,000 seats to improve comfort. In spite of that, Match magazine published A new grand stage at the gates of Paris in its front cover of 19 April 1932
Parc des Princes
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Parc des Princes
Parc des Princes
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Entrance to the Parc des Princes.
Parc des Princes
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PSG against
Borussia Dortmund in the
UEFA Europa League
Catalans Dragons
