S.A. rugby tour of France will go ahead

Press, 3 July 1979, Page 32

S.A. rugby tour of France will go ahead

From

JOHN BROOKS

The South African rugby tour of France, scheduled for later this year, is still on, said the president of the French Rugby Federation, Mr Albert Ferrasse, in Napier last evening. The acknowledged strong man of French rugby said that his Government had not given an unequivical “no” to the tour but had merely said tnat it was inopportune. However, 95 per cent of the members of the French Olympic Committee were in favour of the tour taking place, Mr Ferrasse said. Asked whether he was concerned about a possible boycott of the Moscow Olympics next year by black African nations because of the tour he replied: “Who says there will be a boycott? I know of some African sporting leaders who support the Federation in this matter.”

Mr Ferrasse, who has been president of the federation for eight years and is well known for his positive line of thinking, said that the French national rugby body was opposed to apartheid. But he thought one of the best weapons against it was to insist on the fielding of multi-racial teams by South Africa. Asked about the debacle of the Transvaal rugby team’s tour of France earlier this year, when municipal authorities refused to allow the side to play on their grounds, Mr Ferrasse said that the Transvaal

Union had agreed to include two coloured players in the team but had arrived in France with an all-white side. “From then on it was not my problem,” he said.

The French rugby president pointed to the fact that the Tricolours team now touring New Zealand contained a coloured player, Serge Blanco, who was bom in Curacao. And he said that in September, France would receive a tour from the National side of Ivory Coast.

He was adamant that France was pursuing a realistic course in rugby. “The reason is that we don’t accept lessons from other people,” he said. Mr Ferrasse was asked about French reaction to the Tricolours tour of New Zealand, and said he was disturbed about fighting, especially in the Waikato match. “That was a bad scene but now I think the position has got better and better.

“I feel the dirty game is finished and we will have a good tour. But,” he observed, with a sideways glance, “to have a fight you must have two.” Mr Ferrasse strongly advocated increased rugby contact between New Zealand and France and said there was no reason why the interchange should not be accelerated.

He was keen to see more exclusive All Black tours of France but said the ideal length of tour for both countries would be eight matches spread over four or five weeks.