Édouard Ponsinet (1923 – 22 October 2006) was a French

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

player for

AS Carcassonne Association Sportive of Carcassonne are a semi-professional rugby league football club based in Carcassonne in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie in the south of France. They play in the French Super XIII and are one of th ...

and club Lézignan in the French rugby league championship competition. He also represented the

France national rugby league team The France national rugby league team represents France in international rugby league matches. They are referred to as ''les Chanticleers'' or less commonly as ''les Tricolores''. The team is run under the auspices of the French Rugby League Fed ...

on eighteen occasions; his position of choice was in the second row. Ponsinet originally had his background in

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competitio ...

and at the age of eighteen was a member of both the French junior

triathlon A triathlon is an endurance multisport race consisting of Swimming (sport), swimming, Cycle sport, cycling, and running over various distances. Triathletes compete for fastest overall completion time, racing each segment sequentially with the ...

and

sprinting Sprinting is running over a short distance at the top-most speed of the body in a limited period of time. It is used in many sports that incorporate running, typically as a way of quickly reaching a target or goal, or avoiding or catching an op ...

teams; a year later he was crowned French junior triathlon champion, and ran a one hundred metre time of 11.3 seconds. In early 1940 Édouard was courted by French rugby league club

but before he was able to play a competition game for the club the new

Vichy government Vichy France (; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was a French rump state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II, established as a result of the French capitulation after the defeat against ...

outlawed

forcing all clubs to play

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

or cease to exist. AS Carcassonne become ''ACE Carcassonne'' for a short time and played rugby union over the next three years, until the Vichy government was taken out of power and the Carcassonne club reverted to rugby league. Over the next ten years with AS Carcassonne Ponsinet became a vital member of the club's first team helping them to achieve five French rugby league championship titles and four

Lord Derby Cup The Coupe de France Lord Derby (), or just Coupe Lord Derby ('Lord Derby Cup'), is the premier knockout competition for the sport of rugby league football in France, as well as the name of its championship trophy. The tournament was first conte ...

s. During these golden years with Carcassonne Ponsinet cemented his place in the French national side forming a lethal combination with fellow

Élie Brousse Élie Brousse (28 August 1921 – 2 July 2019) was a French rugby league player for Roanne, Marseille and Lyon Villeurbanne in the French rugby league championship competition. His position of choice was as a . Brousse featured in the 1951 F ...

. Over these years in French colours on the international scene, Édouard became known as one of the premier forwards in the game, as in his strong performances against the

Australians Australians, colloquially known as Aussies, are the citizenship, citizens, nationality, nationals and individuals associated with the country of Australia. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or ethno-cultural. For most Aust ...

during their 1951 tour to

Oceania Oceania ( , ) is a region, geographical region including Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Outside of the English-speaking world, Oceania is generally considered a continent, while Mainland Australia is regarded as its co ...

. He retired from the professional game at the end of the 1952 season, before accepting a job as a coach at the Lézignan club the following year. Ponsinet died on 22 October 2006 at the age of 83.

References

1923 births 2006 deaths AS Carcassonne players France national rugby league team players French rugby league coaches French rugby league players Lézignan Sangliers coaches Rugby league players from Carcassonne {{France-rugbyleague-bio-stub