Two clubs that coincidentally share the same nickname are providing encouraging signs of growth for the game in France.
I HAVE a confession to make. I don’t monitor the French domestic championships closely. Not because I’m not interested in what is the vital core of French Rugby League.
At that level, all the stakeholders counter the urban legend spread about our sport which some critics claim is purely motivated by money. Not only are many Treizistes volunteers, but they accept that their actions will get very little recognition in France.
I’m not a “remote-control Treiziste” either: following only the most hyped competitions like NRL or Super League. They are easier to follow, of course, but as they are not accompanied by a strong international promotion they don’t have much reach. If you want to pull the leg of a Northern Brit or even a Sydneysider, give them a mission to find a café or pub in a big city in France where one can watch a rugby league game. Good luck!
Actually, I prefer to follow the trends of the domestic game.
For example, if Carcassonne Canaries win the Men’s championship this season again, it will be well deserved but unfortunately won’t change the so-called regional profile of our code. Unless of course if Carcassonne eventually enters the British championship.
So, I’m trying to be more aware about things that occur which could give some indication of the growth of French rugby league, including its return to areas that have played in the past. There’s an urban legend which fits our pessimistic Gallic mentality well: where rugby League is in trouble, it can’t ever come back. The myth of the lost Golden age, and terminal decline.
This season, there are encouraging signs coming from two clubs which oddly have the same monikers, Villefranche-de-Rouergue and Pamiers. Both are called “Les Loups” (the Wolves). A very appropriate name as this animal was reintroduced in France. An animal we had defined as dead, but which seems today no more in danger of extinction.
Both clubs were promoted. Both come from cities of the same size (less than 20,000 inhabitants) Both have a prestigious rugby league past. And more important; both are doing very well in their new leagues, respectively Super XIII and Elite 2. Both are located in Occitanie, an area Sky commentators refer to as ‘South of France’, but far from the seaside and close to the mountains. The clubs, separated by 200km (125 miles) don’t know each other except by reputation.
Usually, there’s an unwritten rule saying that promoted teams struggle to survive. To mitigate this, Villefrance-de-Rouergue got a privilege from the Federation: during their first three seasons, they can’t be relegated. Will they need that protection?
To know more, I asked the Wolves themselves. Actually, by the time of publishing, Villefranche is up to fourth in the Super XIII table. Usually, for a promoted team, a season is a real ordeal, so how did the “Villefranchois” manage to become so competitive?
A quartet of managers (Patrick Baux, David Collado, Jean-Claude Boulagnon and Alain Borderie) agreed to answer my questions.
“Actually, the coach, Davil Collado, made it plain that the club would make it to the Super XIII only if they won the Elite 2 championship. So, he’s built the success of this season on the backbone of last season’s team, with the addition of a few more talented players,” explained Jean-Claude Boulagnon.
Yet, Villefranchois keep the heads cool for the next part of the season, the games after the December break.
“The second part of the season may be more complicated; targets haven’t been raised even if the results are happily surprising,” he continued.
“It’s true that, at the beginning of the season, we said we were full of hope to qualify for the play-offs, but if we don’t qualify that won’t be such a big deal for a first season in Super XIII.”
I was also curious to know if promotion has changed the life of the club.
“We changed co-chairmen, methods, new volunteers have come and have entered various commissions, this is very encouraging. On the field, the sport staff is more demanding with the players, mistakes that could have been made at the lower level are no longer acceptable. In communications, we now offer the option to follow the score of matches live on the internet and on the social networks, we have attracted more and more followers.”
But even if things are going pretty well for the Aveyron Treizistes, they do appreciate the three-year relegation exemption granted by the Federation.
“It’s reassuring and we can work in a long-term perspective from grassroots to the top.”
200km away, in the south, let’s meet again (see RLW 495) some other Wolves! Pamiers has almost a similar explanation for a similar success in Elite 2: by the time of publishing, the “Ariégeois” were in fourth place in the league table.
Manager Edouard Laguerre, accompanied this time by a volunteer media officer, an osteopath, Valentine Garrigues, explained to me the reason of the club’s good results: “This promotion has nothing to do with chance, we have been working for it for three seasons. All right, we’re not a big club, but we have many ideas and we’re backed by committed managers and volunteers,” Laguerre told Rugby League World.
Like Villefranche, they remain cautious, and their targets haven’t been raised either.
“We’re making our way by remaining clear-headed, we’re taking things one match at a time.”
Life has also changed for a club which, nevertheless, wants to keep a family spirit.
Regarding communication, the club has recruited an assistant and is fortunate to be backed by a retired journalist and a novelist, Frédéric Bourgade, who, as a volunteer, writes weekly about the Wolves in two local newspapers.
The club is quite ambitious, and the Golden age when Pamiers would provide the Chanticleers with gifted players (in the 1940s but also in the 1980s) isn’t forgotten.
“With that promotion, the creation of a reserve grade team and also the creation of a women’s section we hope to establish Pamiers on the French rugby league map.
“We’re rooting in the present moment, and yet we’re inspired by the past, to get a bright future.”
As you can see, following the domestic championship from afar has some advantages. You may miss games, scores, passionate derbies, but trends stand out: rugby league can come back!
From a fossilised Parisian newsroom, or the overly stilted headquarters of France Television, one may see only “Provincials”, playing in Aude or Pyrénées Orientales, a strange code, rugby à XIII, a code you may have defined as dead (just like the wolf).
But reality is that the funeral of French rugby league, which has been announced for decades by French union-oriented media, has been postponed again.
There is a still a long way to go, and we have to be very careful not to lose our most western clubs, but patient, resilient, Treizistes stakeholders are building some solid foundations which will make rugby league resist adverse and artificial winds.
First published in Rugby League World magazine, Issue 504 (January 2025)
