Golden boy Jean-Pierre inspired a generation
THERE are too many Englishmen happy to genuflect at the altar of “French flair”, extolling their rugby to the heavens, while ignoring the deadly dull boot-and-bash straitjacket that France have worn for most of the past 12 years.
In that time the French have not won a single title and have produced very little of the panache that were the hallmark of French teams of the decade bookmarked by their Five Nations Grand Slams in 1968 and 1977.
As a 16-year-old flanker who spent a summer month hitchhiking around France, I recognised that the profound differences between the English and French on most fronts were also reflected in the way they played rugby.
Even though all that separates us is the Channel, we were worlds apart. When you crossed it, you instantly opened a window on another language, history, and culture.
Instead of a toilet seat there were two footprints and a hole in the floor. You paid francs, not pounds. We had Woodbines, pints of bitter, cheddar, and rectangular loaves of Hovis, they had Gauloise, with their aroma of burning tar, cheap vin rouge, camembert, and baguettes.
We also had no one quite like JeanPierre Rives. The openside flanker from Toulouse captured the imagination like no-one else because when he first broke into the French side in the 1975 Five Nations he seemed to be everywhere.
The impression was reinforced not just by his exceptional work-rate, but by a mane of blond hair that made him even more conspicuous. It earned him the nickname “Casque D’Or” (Golden Helmet), and he became the poster boy of the French team as they revved-up over the next two years to claim second place finishes before winning a Grand Slam crown under the captaincy of Jacques Fouroux.
Rives earned his reputation the hard way, and, apart from his habit of smearing any blood from facial cuts into his hair, there was nothing preening about him. Although he often seemed to produce more claret than Bordeaux, it was obvious it was the product of his ferocious, unwavering blood-and-guts commitment.
This meant that despite being only 5ft 10ins (1.78m) and 13st 5lbs (85kg) he punched well above his weight, especially in the tackle. What also marked him out was superb support play. Rives had that right-place right-time instinct which saw him as carrier and link, giving and taking passes which created the bridge between a mighty pack and a backline with plenty of firepower.
The passing of the French stood out as more unorthodox and inventive than their Five Nations rivals – and Rives, weaned on the exploits of players in the 1968 Slam side like centre Jo Maso and No.8 Walter Spanghero, was no exception. The electric Maso would confuse the opposition by hiding the ball behind his back while running full
“Rives had the habit of smearing any blood from facial cuts into his hair”
tilt, and then making it reappear in whichever hand took his fancy, while Spanghero, who had hands the size of dinner plates, would loop one-handed basketball passes to his teammates.
At the time the French played home games with a distinctive Adidas ball with black leather patches at either end, and one of the passes at which Rives and his back row accomplices Jean-Claude Skrela and towering No.8 Jean-Pierre Bastiat excelled was a high but expertly weighted lob. This would clear defenders and allow support runners enough time to read the trajectory and accelerate onto it, giving moves unstoppable momentum.
Rives, who went on to captain France in 1978, inspired a whole generation of young back row forwards – not all of them French. He led France 34 times, including a 1979 Bastille Day epic when he led an injury-ravaged French team to a landmark first victory over the All Blacks in New Zealand, stunning the locals with a 24-19 win.
Rives also showed reckless courage when, after leading France to a further Grand Slam in 1981, he played on tour against Australia in the second Test in Sydney with a strapped and padded shoulder which had been dislocated severely in a match two weeks earlier.
France were again badly depleted by injuries, and Rives’ one-armed bandit act was described by Wallaby No.8 Mark Loane as “bravery to the point of insanity” – however, he refused to leave his post as captain and played the entire match.
Following his retirement from rugby in 1984 Rives embarked on a new life as a sculptor and painter, and his work has been acclaimed in his homeland, where he remains a revered figure.
Unfortunately for Rives, France have not always lived up to the legacy left by his generation. Since the Six Nations expansion to include Italy in 2000, every country has experienced lean times – with Scotland and Italy still empty-handed.
However, of the leading contenders, Les Bleus have so far faced the longest period without Six Nations silverware after their 12 year wait (2010-2022).
For a nation with France’s resources and deeply embedded rugby culture the magnitude of that failure since the 2010 Slam is why expectation on the talented side being built by head coach Fabien Galthie, and captained by scrum-half Antoine Dupont, is sky high.
Two second-place finishes in the last two seasons also explains why this time only a title will do, as they kick off their 2022 Six Nations campaign against Italy today at the same Stade de France stadium where they hope to win their first World Cup title 20 months from now.
The pressure is building but, if Galthie’s squad need inspiration, the coach just has to reach for the highlights reel of Jean-Pierre Rives, the Casque d’Or.