By Spiro Zavos
September 20th 2007 @ 6:47am
RWC: Tackling Jean-Pierre Rives (Almost)
Those of us of a certain age loved the dashing, cavalier openside flanker play of Jean-Pierre Rives.
He was the epitome of the rugby hero: dashing, wildly handsome with long, blond flowing hair, a golden-haired warrior with his face streaked in blood, a leader always at the ruck fighting for the ball and always making the tackle, a sort of Ray Price in his play but looking like an Adonis.
When I saw that the legend was going to talk about his most recent book B/Vestiaries at the Montpellier library only a 100m from my hotel, I had to go. Heroes have to be honoured. I was intriqued to see how the years had treated him.
The meeting was due to start at 6.30. I arrived about this time to find 30 people (I counted them) in a largish lecture hall waiting for the great man to arrive. This was hardly the turnout you’d have expected for the man whose play inspired Charles de Gaulle to pour millions of francs into French rugby because le rugby champagne that was played by les Bleus under Rives’ captaincy was just about the best thing France had going for it in the 1960s.
I consoled myself, too, with the fact that the last book launch I had, for my essay on the zen of rugby called ‘How To Watch A Game Of Rugby’ attracted exactly no people. After this thought had exhausted its possibilities I worked on a list of great openside flankers that I’d seen play. The order I put them in, after much thought which I had the time to do as the great man still had not arrived, or ‘rived (I suppose), was this: Michael Jones, Richie McCaw, George Smith, Jean-Pierre Rives, Waka Nathan, Jan Ellis, Pieter Greyling, Ray Price (although his rugby career was all too short), and Fergus Slattery.
There is no room on this list for Josh Kronfeld who I always thought was over-rated and wasn’t a tackling openside flanker.
Hennie Muller, the ‘greyhound of the veldt, the brilliant number eight of the late 1940s and 1950s, would probably have been bracketed with Micahel Jones if he had played openside, as he surely would have in the modern era.
There was a stirring near the doorway and in sauntered Jean-Pierre Rives. He was bigger, taller, than I’d expected and still carrying the formidable build of a great athlete. He started talking and soon had the audience, particularly a very chic woman of une age certaine, laughing and being extremely attentive to what he was saying.
And what was he saying? My French couldn’t decipher the jokes. But I did hear him apologise, desole for being en retard, for being late. I went back to my musings again. Rugby, I told myself was a war game. You could say that the tight-five were the aircraft carriers of a side. The openside flankers were the fighter planes.
Its interesting, I think, that Richie McCaw’s uncle was a fighter pilot hero in World War II, and that the All Black captain is a keen and competent pilot in his own right, apparently. Then I thought that two of my openside greats are playing in this 2007 RWC tournament, a reason I believe why their teams, the All Blacks and the Wallabies are doing so well. And why France, England and Ireland who don’t have a quality openside flanker are doing poorly, and why the Springboks, who are having a terrific tournament probably won’t win it.
My musing ended abruptly as the session wound up. I applauded warmly, like the rest of the audience, but not as enthusiastically and as bright-eyed as the chic French lady now standing with me near the doorway. Jean-Pierre Rives walked slowly past us, slightly brushing us near the narrow doorway.
It was one of my most memorable brushes with fame. I hadn’t understood a damn thing he’d said, except for his apology for being late. But I’d got close enough to knock him over in a tackle (or so I told myself) which was closer than most of his opponents got when he was in his brilliant prime.
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sheek said | September 20th 2007 @ 7:38am | Report comment
Spiro,
Well relayed! The Rives era of French rugby (1975-84) mostly meshed with the Ella era of Australian rugby (1980-84). Blanco (1980-91) & Campese (1982-96) were also part of these eras, particularly in the early 80s.
Elsewhere, I’ve argued that rugby is a sport, & therefore in the entertainment industry. In the early 80s, rugby was a great advertisement for itself, with many wonderful players across the board, generally playing attractive rugby.
Although the Brits were in decline, they still had many fine players. The French were starting to change to a forward based power, but that wouldn’t become obvious until the mid-80s. The Kiwis were beginning to appreciate back play, while ironically, the Saffies, about to go into sporting isolation, had one of its finest teams.
Then there was Argentina, with the majestic Hugo Porta at the helm. At their best, the Pumas could match anyone. Then there was Australia, with the Ellas, O’Connor, Campese, Moon, Gould.
My favorite rugby decade would have to be 1975-84, Jean-Pierre Rives entire career. The pantheon of greats who passed through this decade was truly extraordinary. If I were to write down the best XVs from England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, France, South Africa, New Zealand, Australia, Argentina & BI Lions who appeared in any one of these years, it would have the mouths of rugby enthusiasts salvitating.
If picking an entire world XV from a romantic point of view, I would go with Rives. but on pure ability, I agree Jones & Mccaw are superior. Thank God for the French! They give rugby a special hue.
DaniE said | September 20th 2007 @ 4:46pm | Report comment
JPR was certainly a player whom I really wished I could have watched. He sounds like he was one of the true gods of French rugby, what with his looks and style of play. I only hope they will translate his book into English and promote it outside the French market. There have been so many rugby books in the shops here but they’re all in French and too difficult to translate!
Although it has been fun to buy the Rugbymen comics (especially the Odieux du Stade calendar) and attempt to decipher what they are saying.
sheek said | September 20th 2007 @ 5:10pm | Report comment
Gee DaniE,
Just for a second there, I was wondering how you confused JPR Williams (the great Welsh fullback) for a Frenchman! Of course, you young ‘uns might not appreciate that Williams was usually simply known & referred to by his initials ‘JPR’.
Mainly to differentiate from the other great Welsh Williams of the day, winger ‘JJ’. But I would have to say the other JPR - Jean Pierre Rives - is my favorite French rugby player.
Hugh Dillon said | September 20th 2007 @ 7:14pm | Report comment
Nice reflective piece by Spiro. I loved to watch Rives play too and thought the series they played in Australia with him as captain was fine rugby. Interesting that Spiro places Ray Price in his list of great open side breakaways. I would rate him even a little higher than Smith because he didn’t have nearly as much support in the pack as Smith has had in his time. I have always thought that the Australian rugby revival (after the Woeful Wallaby tour of NZ in 1972 , the floggings by England and Wales in 1973 and the defeat by Tonga in 1973) began when Ray Price attacked the All Blacks like a man possessed in 1974, scored a try against them and showed them that Australians could play as hard as kiwis. Price was gone by the time the Wallabies took on, and nearly beat, the All Blacks at home in 1978 but he was an inspiration, the Australian Rives perhaps.
Jaffa said | September 20th 2007 @ 7:54pm | Report comment
A great reflective piece, Spiro. My own memories of Jean Pierre Rives accord closely with yours. He was the exemplar par excellence of was generally referred to as “Gallic flair” (actually last spotted in 1999 RWC semi final v Awblex). He was lightning quick to the breakdown and utterly fearless in contact, often against far bigger opponents. His blond wavy hair stood out on the field, and made him readily and immediately identifiable ,even in the thick of the action.
He led a tour of Les Bleus to Australia in the early eighties when Tony Shaw was his opposing captain. Australia won the second test in a pretty willing encounter, and my recollection is that J-PR played most of the match with one arm all but useless by his side following an injury early in the game. He was an inspiring presence on field nonetheless.
At the after- match dinner, he was presented with a Wallabies tie by Tony Shaw; rather than give in return the pre-packaged one provided by FFR, in a chivalrous gesture he removed his own tie and presented it to Tony S. as a mark of his respect and esteem for a fellow warrior. I doubt such things happen now!
My own personal contact with J-PR was via Rupert Rosenblum, a Francophone, long-time Francophile and a legend at SUFC, who brought him down to watch Sydney Uni training one night during the above-mentioned tour.
Rupert wanted to give him a Sydney Uni jumper as a memento of his visit, and as I was the gear steward at the time it fell to me to produce one. Rather than break up one of our playing sets, I made a quick dash back to my College digs and grabbed a training jumper of my own, which Rupie then duly presented to the great man. I sure hope he’s still got it!
A few years later , after I did him a favour in expediting some medical care, the great Serge Blanco gave me one of his training jumpers, so perhaps the cosmic ledger of favours done and returned was balanced out eventually.
Dublin Dave said | September 21st 2007 @ 3:25am | Report comment
I remember Rives very well from the 1970s. I was present at Lansdowne Road in 1977 when France won the Grand Slam for only the second time ever believe it or not in a game that was close but which they never really looked likely to lose.
That was indeed a great French team, in fact it was so memorable that I can name them all off the top of my head without looking them up. (Sheek and I have between us the largest collection of anoraks on the planet)
Aguirre was the full back and star of that game. On the wings were Averous and Harize. The centres were Sanghali and the brilliant Roland Bertranne.
Half backs were Romeu and the late great Petit General Jacques Fouroux who captained the side. A tiny little man he was reckoned to be not the best scrum half but the best captain the French had at the time, and I still remember the great BBC commentator Bill McLaren chuckling as he watched Fouroux gesticulating furiously at his forwards “The funny thing is all them big fellas do exactly as they’re told”
And big fellas they certainly were. A front row of Cholley, a former boxer who never lost his love of a good punch up on the field, Paco and another late legend Paparemborde; two psychopathic locks Palmie and Imbernon and the legendary back row of Rives, Skrela (father of David) and Bastiat.
One particular memory I have of Rives was him playing a match with a bad head gash which, in the days before blood bins, he was not required to leave the field to have stitched. Also in those days before universal colour TV, France tended to wear white in all 5N games apart from the one with England, so the claret really showed up all over what had been his pristine white jersey. He looked like something from a Tarantino movie.
Despite his long blond hair and dashing good looks and penchant for fine art, he started his working life as a bailiff!! Not the sort of guy you’d argue with if he came to reposess your stereo, I reckon.
DaniE said | September 24th 2007 @ 8:54am | Report comment
Sorry for this late addition to the thread; but speaking of JPR Williams I have just read his biography - a really good read. Would heavily recommend it to all rugby fans of history!