Comments on: RWC: Tackling Jean-Pierre Rives (Almost)

By: DaniE

DaniE — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 00:24:35 +0000

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!

By: Dublin Dave

Dublin Dave — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 18:55:18 +0000

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.

By: Jaffa

Jaffa — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 11:24:39 +0000

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.

By: Hugh Dillon

Hugh Dillon — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 10:44:30 +0000

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.

By: sheek

sheek — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 08:40:50 +0000

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.

By: DaniE

DaniE — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 08:16:53 +0000

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.

By: sheek

sheek — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 23:08:23 +0000

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.