Guy Basquet was a French

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 ...

player, born 13 July 1921 in

Layrac Layrac (; ) is a commune in the Lot-et-Garonne department in south-western France. Population See also *Communes of the Lot-et-Garonne department The following is a list of the 319 communes of the French department of Lot-et-Garonne. ...

and died 1 February 2006 in

Agen Agen (, , ) is the prefecture of the Lot-et-Garonne department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Southwestern France. It lies on the river Garonne, southeast of Bordeaux. In 2021, the commune had a population of 32,485. Geography The city of Agen l ...

. He was known for scoring a try in his country's first wins on Welsh and English soil in 1948 and 1951, two against Australia in the first French win over a Dominions team in 1948 and another on their first triumph at Murrayfield over Scotland in 1952.

Biography

He was 1 m 81 and weighed 102 kg, he played third line centre and left flank for

. He started out as a basketball player, but rapidly succeeded in the Juniors of

Racing Metro Racing 92 () is a French professional rugby union club based in the Hauts-de-Seine department, Paris' western inner suburbs that competes in Top 14. The club plays its home matches at the 30,681-capacity domed stadium Paris La Défense Arena, l ...

, and moved to

during the Second World War, (around 1940), the town where he would stay for the rest of his career, until 1953. During the championship final of 1947, he was temporarily sent off during the second half of the first period, a rule which was not rescinded for a further two decades. He played at Agen alongside Albert Ferrasse, then followed him as head of the FFR, and of the club. He became, in effect, vice-president of the Fédération from 1968 to 1991, the date that

Bernard Lapasset Bernard Lapasset (20 October 1947 – 3 May 2023) was a French rugby administrator who was Chairman of the World Rugby from 2008 to 2016. He previously served as President of the French Federation of Rugby Union from 1991 to May 2008, when P ...

became head of the FFR, and ultimately head of the selection committee from 1980, succeeding

Élie Pebeyre Élie is the French equivalent of " Elie", "Elias" or "Elijah."''The Complete Baby Name Book'' 1989 Page 92 "It was revived in the seventeenth century by the Puritans, and is still used, especially by religious Protestant families. Famous name: El ...

. He was also president of the

French Barbarians The Barbarian Rugby Club, more commonly known as the French Barbarians, is a rugby union team formed in 1979 and based in France. It was founded as an amateur invitational team modeled on the Barbarian F.C. From the start of the 2017–18 sea ...

, and of

from 1985 until the arrival of

Daniel Dubroca Daniel Dubroca (born 25 April 1954) is a former French national rugby union player and coach. He played as a prop and as a hooker. Biography Dubroca was born at Aiguillon. He played all his career at SU Agen, starting at 1969/70. He was prom ...

. His comments were collected into the book by Roger Driès: ''Un missionnaire du rugby au cœur de tous les défis'', éd. CMCP in 2001.

Honours

Club

* French Champions :

1945 1945 marked the end of World War II, the fall of Nazi Germany, and the Empire of Japan. It is also the year concentration camps were liberated and the only year in which atomic weapons have been used in combat. Events World War II will be ...

1947 It was the first year of the Cold War, which would last until 1991, ending with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Events January * January–February – Winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom: The worst snowfall in the country i ...

** Finalist:

1943 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 – WWII: The Soviet Union announces that 22 German divisions have been encircled at Stalingrad, with 175,000 killed and 137,650 captured. * January 4 � ...

* Winner of the

Coupe de France The Coupe de France (), also known in English language, English as the French Cup or less commonly as the France Cup, is the premier Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in French football organised by the French Football Fed ...

: 1943, 1945

International

* 33 caps for France A from 1945 to 1952 (including 24 as captain from 1948 à 1952), therefore part of the 1st team to win in Swansea in 1948, and at Twinckenham in 1951 * 1st tournament in

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

in 1949
(and director of the tour of

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

in 1961)

References

External links

---- French rugby union players 20th-century French sportsmen 1921 births 2006 deaths France international rugby union players SU Agen Lot-et-Garonne players {{France-rugbyunion-bio-1920s-stub Occitan sportspeople