For many years, French rugby league has been essentially left to fend for itself in the noxious sports environment in which it exists.
No other sport has been treated as deplorably by another sport as French rugby league has been, and indeed, still is, by French rugby union.
This behaviour has been, at best, tolerated by the French government at the highest levels.
There are no arguments with the historical facts – French rugby union, threatened by the independent creation of another sport, French rugby league, in 1934, set about using its Vichy government allies to attempt to completely purge rugby league from the French sports landscape.
This was achieved with the complete banning of rugby league – both professional and amateur – effectively from 1940. That this was done with a despicable Nazi-aligned government under cover of World War II (WWII) only adds to the aggravated nature of the offence. An offence which French rugby union has never even acknowledged, let alone apologised for.
An offence which also involved the theft of French rugby league assets, worth many millions of French francs in modern terms, which were made available to French rugby union. French rugby league has never received any type of restitution from either French rugby union or the French government for this shameful conduct.
Even with the post-WWII reinstatement of rugby league, the sport was instantly strangled with a ‘Protocol’ which doomed it to a gradual decline over the next two decades.
The Protocol basically limited rugby league’s capacity to regenerate after WWII by limiting the number of professional players permitted, the number of teams which could participate in the professional (first) division and also by forcibly requiring rugby league to change its French name, rugby treize (rugby 13), to jeu a treize (game of 13).
Under pressure from French rugby union, the French government placed a proverbial gun to the head of French rugby league and required it to sign off on this unreasonable document.
Despite this, France managed some truly epic international results in the period between 1945 and 1980. Australia was unable to defeat France in a test series at home at all across three successive French tours in 1951, 1955 and 1960. France remains the last nation to defeat Australia in a test series with its 2-0 series defeat over the Kangaroos in 1978.
France made World Cup Final appearances in 1954, at home, and 1968, away, with the former team unlucky not to win the tournament in Toulouse – a rare occasion when the superlative kicking ability of Puig-Aubert did not lift France to a win (France instead drawing 13-all with Great Britain before an over capacity crowd of 37,471 in Toulouse).
Regular test matches – on a home and away basis – with Great Britain during the 1950s and 1960s helped France maintain an internationally competitive side, which was still quite capable of defeating Great Britain, New Zealand and Australia on any given day.
Eventually, the decline in player numbers caused by the rugby union organised Vichy ban and the impact of the Protocol, took effect – as indeed it was designed to do by rugby union – over the course of the 1950s.
France went from a side which was dominating international rivals in the early 1950s to a side which was only just competing with them by the end of that decade. The rarity of such test series wins becomes more apparent as that deep well of players dries up through the 1960s – 1980s. The French test series win over Australia 2-0 (in 3 Tests, one drawn) in 1967-68 becomes more of an outlier than anything else.
By the time France defeated Australia in the 1978 test series, the rugby league world was genuinely shocked by the result. Such results have gradually faded out even further to the extent that the French win over Great Britain in 1990 was hailed as a near miracle.
The overall reduction in focus on international rugby league since the mid-1990s, one of the worst effects of the Super League War, has not helped France – a country whose rugby league identity was forged through international competition.
A further consequence of this direct repression of French rugby league has been a gradual retreat from the larger cities in France in which it previously held significant support to the smaller towns and villages of (largely) the south of France.
Cities like Bordeaux and Marseille, which have been regarded as rugby league strongholds at different times throughout the game’s history, now feature only token support for the game.
While good progress has been made in recent years with the involvement of Catalans (Perpignan) and Toulouse within the English club structures, the quality of domestic French rugby league (Elite 1) today is far removed from the 1930s – 1980s period. Strength and influence in the league competition has been concentrated in smaller and smaller population centres over time.
It’s against this backdrop of unrelenting persecution (and near silence from the international rugby league community, who most probably wanted to see a weaker rather than a stronger French test team) that French rugby league has asked the French government for support to host the 2025 Rugby League World Cup. Every indication is that France is now the preferred candidate for the 2025 World Cup, but final confirmation is yet to be given by the IRL.
No doubt French rugby union will be asked for its thoughts on the subject of France hosting the Rugby League World Cup. One would scarcely expect those thoughts to be other than representative of the persecution rugby union has previously orchestrated towards rugby league in France. They are unlikely to be positive – irrespective of whatever is said publicly in an attempt at PR management.
The French government certainly owes French rugby league. As recently as 2002, the French government itself found that French rugby union was actively involved in the Vichy ban of rugby league in 1940.
Yet absolutely no sanctions for French rugby union – a politically powerful sport in France – have followed. The French government – which is so heavily involved in the administration of sport in what remains a staunchly socialist country – has steadfastly refused to do anything about its own findings.
The very least it could do would be to throw substantial support behind the 2025 RLWC bid.
This begs the question – would a RLWC, in 2025 in France, work? This will largely turn on the level of government support provided to rugby league.
Certainly, the better outcome would be the level of political support shown for the 1954 RLWC tournament held in France rather than the 1972 RLWC tournament in France. The latter was a time of extreme suppression of the game in France, with rugby union professional in all but name and actively recruiting rugby league players for its teams.
If reasonable levels of political support are provided to the tournament, a RLWC in France would most probably be the best available means of returning the game in France to anything like its pre-WWII (1934-39) or immediate post-war (1945-1960) strength.
The 1954 RLWC tournament saw games played in Paris, Lyon, Toulouse, Marseille, Bordeaux and Nantes, to sizeable crowds and public interest. The 13-all draw in Toulouse on 7 November necessitated an unplanned World Cup Final – which was hastily arranged for the Parc des Princes in Paris. The RLWC Final handily outdrew (30,000 plus spectators) the semi-final of the FIFA World Cup at the same venue in 1938 (20,000 spectators).
The 1972 RLWC tournament still saw games played in Paris, Marseille and Toulouse, but smaller population centres such as Pau, Grenoble and Perpignan were utilised. Attendance was significantly reduced on the 1954 RLWC numbers.
For the RLWC to be a true success, French rugby league would need to regenerate some of the previous support for the game in the larger French cities. French government funding would be crucial in carrying this out.
With regards to French rugby union, it is well overdue to make suitable reparations to French rugby league for its previous conduct. This is only likely to occur by holding that conduct up to the light of public scrutiny. The RLWC (and the Rugby (Union) World Cup in 2023) remain possible forums in which to do so.
The rugby league community internationally also owes France for bringing such a rich cultural edge to the game as a whole and for its shameful silence over the treatment of French rugby league domestically.
One of the considerations in planning a RLWC in France is the extent to which French rugby league’s extraordinary past there is highlighted, or even mentioned.
An obvious argument exists that it would not serve French rugby league to pick too big a squabble with both French rugby union and the French government at this time (as the latter is clearly integral to a successful tournament and the former actively, and openly, working against it is unlikely to assist the holding of a RLWC).
No doubt this would be the commercial preference.
French rugby league supporters, however, are really the truest of true believers – a fact perhaps not surprising given the sheer effort which has been required to keep the rugby league flame alight in France.
They see the active persecution of rugby league as a story which must be told to as many people as possible – and damn the consequences. To do otherwise and pretend this history does not exist to improve the commerciality of the RLWC product is not something which will sit easily among their number.
Most likely a middle ground will be reached – the history will be emphasised only to the extent that it demonstrates the capacity of the game to survive the most extreme circumstances.
The details of the grievance will essentially remain unexpressed and the example of the treatment of French rugby league will remain known only by those who take the time to dive more deeply into its rich and brave history.
The benefits to rugby league of a successful French RLWC are obvious. The holding of the RLWC would be expected to result in greater interest in, and a general strengthening of, the domestic French rugby league competition.
The proper recognition of the French immediately gives rugby league greater respectability and authority in continental Europe – a developing market for the sport. The French – much like the British – have traditionally taken an internationalist perspective when it comes to rugby league.
The organisation of the game’s International Board and the holding of the first RLWC are prime examples. The World Cup trophy itself is now named in honour of the driving force behind the tournament’s inauguration, former French Rugby League President, Paul Barriere. It is also no coincidence that formative efforts to start rugby league competitions in the former Yugoslavia, Vietnam, Madagascar and Italy during the 1950s were initiated by the French.
Any examples of strong rugby league nations outside the Commonwealth and former Commonwealth countries should be welcomed and fostered with a view to expanding the game worldwide.
There is no doubt that the holding of a RLWC in France – either in their own right or as part of a joint hosting arrangement – would be a significant boost to both French rugby league domestically and rugby league internationally.
Enthusiastic government support – coupled with genuine support from the international rugby league community – for a French RLWC could produce the biggest boost to French rugby league for many years.
There is little doubt that, overall, rugby league owes a great deal to the French. The entire sport should get behind a French RLWC 2025 and help pull the game up to a proper level of sporting recognition in France. This would be a profound step on the road to improvement for the French game and might allow it to rise again to the true heights of global dominance it has previously occupied.
