So, I’ve been thinking about these French rugby players a bit. It’s one of those things, you watch a game, and some of these guys just catch your eye.
And it’s not just about the current big names, the ones all over the news. There’s a whole feel, a certain… well, a flair to French rugby. Always has been. Different from the other big rugby nations, you know?
How I Ended Up Down This Rabbit Hole
This all got me thinking back. Years ago, this was. Decided I’d try to learn French. Sounded like a good plan. Me, cool as a cucumber, ordering stuff in Paris. Didn’t quite work out like that, let me tell you.
Signed up for an evening class. The teacher, Madame something-or-other, she was French, alright. And, as it turned out, she was absolutely bonkers about rugby. Seriously. From the South of France, she was, Toulouse way, I think. Rugby’s basically a religion there.
So, half the time, instead of hammering us with grammar – which, frankly, I was hopeless at – she’d be off on one about ‘le rugby’. We’d get these terms thrown at us:
- le ballon ovale – the oval ball, simple enough
- la mêlée – the scrum, she loved talking about the scrum
- un essai – a try, always said with a bit of excitement
She’d go on about them with real passion. To be honest, I probably picked up more rugby French than actual useful French. Most of the proper language stuff just went in one ear and out the other. But the rugby bits, ’cause she was so into it, they kind of lodged themselves in my brain.
Right, so fast forward a good few years. I’m channel surfing one night, nothing on, and boom, Six Nations rugby. France playing. And I see them pack down for a scrum, and just like that, ‘la mêlée’ pops right into my head. Weirdest thing.
That little moment, it got me watching a bit more. When France was playing, anyway. You start to put names to faces, don’t you? You hear about Dupont, naturally, the guy’s a genius. But then you start noticing the other players. The hefty lads in the forwards, the nippy ones on the wings. And you think, “Right, who are these fellas?”
So, that was my “practice,” if you want to call it that. Started just looking them up. Nothing fancy. No big research project. Just if a player caught my eye, I’d have a quick search. “Who’s that number seven?” or “What club’s he with?” Mostly Top 14, their main league. Tough league, by all accounts.
It wasn’t any kind of serious study. Just me, remembering this French teacher who was probably more cut out to be a rugby coach. And you know what? It’s made watching the French team play a lot more interesting. You get a bit more of a connection, even if my actual French is still pretty dire. But I know what a ‘mêlée’ is now, so there’s that.
