Nr 8 – August-September 2007

Sports — The Rugby Culture in

As many of you probably already know, the will be held mainly in France this year. It will start on September 7th and last until October 20th 2007.

Rugby is a popular sport all around France, but it is considered to be the king of sports in the Southwest and in the Midi-Pyrenees Region! Whereas Rugby was born in , it has indeed become an important part of the culture in this region and one of its main sources of pride. In the past, epic finals of the French championship opposed Lombez-Samatan to Bagnères-de- Bigorre, and Lannemezan, Graulhet, Gaillac or Moissac were the best clubs.

Lourdes, Tarbes and Bagnères were very popular places for rugby during the post-war period. Even if the professional teams filled the fields with rugby stadiums, the sport remains extremely popular and the results of the games evoke lively conversation and debate all week long.

Toulouse and its international stars dominate the sport today, with 16 championship titles of France and 3 European championships for the red and black. The XV of France, as the national team is referred to, always have a strong southern colouring. In every village, there is a regional club where they teach the game to the younger players and where they are encouraged to play hard as well as how they should respect the referees and the opponents. The only famous clubs not located in the south or southwest of France are “Le Stade Français” in , which won 13 French championships, Bourgoin-Jallieu located near and Clermont-Ferrand.

Vincent Anthonioz

Following are the clubs from the (professional league) for this :

Top 14 2007-2008 SC Albi • FC Auch • • olympique • CS Bourgoin- Jallieu CA Brive • olympique • ASM Clermont • US Dax • US

Montauban RC • USA • Stade français Paris •

The French government has edited a very comprehensive Rugby information kit for the World Cup, which also contains a glossary in English, French and Spanish: www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/fr/IMG/pdf/KITdeSurvie-32p_tv5-2.pdf