Jean Dauger (

Cambo-les-Bains Cambo-les-Bains (; ) is a town in the traditional Northern Basque Country, Basque province of Labourd, now in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques Departments of France, department in south-western France. It lies on the south-western bank of the river Nive ...

, 12 November 1919 – 12 October 1999) 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 ...

and

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 ...

footballer. He played as a centre. He was nicknamed ''Manech'', which is a

Lower Navarre Lower Navarre (; Gascon/Bearnese: ''Navarra Baisha''; ; ) is a traditional region of the present-day French '' département'' of Pyrénées-Atlantiques. It corresponds to the northernmost ''region'' of the Kingdom of Navarre during the Middle A ...

Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...

translation of his given name.

Career

Dauger first started his career at 17 years, as first-choice for

Bayonne Bayonne () is a city in southwestern France near the France–Spain border, Spanish border. It is a communes of France, commune and one of two subprefectures in France, subprefectures in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques departments of France, departm ...

in 1936 while he was working locally at the cadastre. In 1938, he shifts to the semi-professionalism of rugby league, playing for

RC Roanne XIII Racing Club de Roanne XIII are a French Rugby league club based in Roanne, Loire in the Rhône-Alpes region. The club played in the Rhône-Alpes League of the French National Division 2. History Racing Club de Roanne XIII were one of the pione ...

alongside

Robert Samatan Robert Samatan, nicknamed ''Bob la Science'' (Toulouse, 16 April 1909 - Antibes, 4 May 1986) was a French rugby union and rugby league footballer. He debuted for Toulouse Olympique Employés Club, T.O.E.C (rugby union), 1.78m tall and weighing 7 ...

and

Max Rousié Max Rousié (18 July 1912 – 2 June 1959) was a French rugby league and rugby union footballer who rose to prominence in the 1930s. He was a dual-code international, eventually becoming captain of the France national rugby league team, French r ...

while working for the Devernois factory, not appreciating the pseudo-amateur mores of the championship at the time. He was considered by the rugby league literature as "an attack prince" , "an exceptional back with dazzling start-up and an ultra-developed sense of game". In 1941, he returned to Bayonne as the

Vichy regime 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 ...

and its

Révolution nationale The ''Révolution nationale'' (, ''National Revolution'') was the official ideological program promoted by the Vichy regime (the “French State”) which had been established in July 1940 and led by Marshal Philippe Pétain. Pétain's regim ...

had banned rugby league. His two union international caps in 1945 for

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

on 1 January 1945 against

Army Rugby Union The Army Rugby Union (ARU) is the governing body for rugby union in the British Army and a constituent body of the Rugby Football Union (RFU). The ARU was formed on 31 December 1906 and marked the fulfilment of Lieutenant J. E. C. "Birdie" Partr ...

(greeted by

Jacques Chaban-Delmas Jacques Chaban-Delmas (; 7 March 1915 – 10 November 2000) was a French Gaullist politician. He served as Prime Minister under Georges Pompidou from 1969 to 1972. He was the Mayor of Bordeaux from 1947 to 1995 and a deputy for the Gironde ''d ...

, who will play alongside him in the following test cap against the British Empire XV on 28 April 1945), caused a very grave crisis against other national teams, being the reason of a 8-year eclipse. His last cap was on 10 January 1953, also brought a new crisis against

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. He still would play for Bayonne until 1956; he is the great centre who inspired his successors such as

Maurice Prat Maurice Prat (17 November 1928 — 15 May 2016) was a French rugby union international. A native of Lourdes, Prat was born on his father's farm, situated next to the town's main rugby union stadium. He was the younger brother of France flanker ...

Roger Martine Roger is a masculine given name, and a surname. The given name is derived from the Old French personal names ' and '. These names are of Germanic languages">Germanic origin, derived from the elements ', ''χrōþi'' ("fame", "renown", "honour") ...

and

André Boniface André Boniface (14 August 1934 – 8 April 2024) was an international rugby union player for France national rugby union team, France. His usual position was either on the wing or in the centres. His Test career for France, 1954 through to 196 ...

. He was also the spiritual son of former

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 ...

and

Roanne Roanne (; ; ) is a commune in the Loire department, central France. It is located northwest of Lyon on the river Loire. It has an important Museum, the ''Musée des Beaux-arts et d'Archéologie Joseph-Déchelette'' (French), with many Egypt ...

player

. Later, Dauger became a journalist for

Paris-Presse ''Paris-Presse'' was a French newspaper published in Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in ...

and wrote a book dedicated to rugby: ''Histoires... de rugby (published by Calmann-Levy in 1965, redacted in 1967) with a preface written by

Jean Prat Jean Prat (1 August 1923 – 25 February 2005) was a French rugby union footballer. He played as a flanker. He was awarded the Légion d'honneur in 1959. He is considered one of the best French rugby players of all time and was inducted into bo ...

, as well ''Le Rugby en dix leçons''. In 1973, he was the coach

France national rugby union team The France national rugby union team (, ) represents the French Rugby Federation (FFR; ) in men's international rugby union matches. Colloquially known as ''Le XV de France'' (French for "The XV of France"), the team traditionally wears blue ...

alongside

Jean Desclaux Jean Desclaux (25 June 1922 – 23 March 2006) was a French rugby union player and coach who played for US Dax as flanker. Born in 1922 in Dax, he played and coached club rugby for US Dax only; as a player he served the club from 1947 to 1959 ...

. From 3 June 2001, in his memory,

Aviron Bayonnais Aviron Bayonnais (AB, ), commonly called Bayonne, is a French rugby union club from Bayonne (''Baiona'' in Basque) in Pyrénées-Atlantiques which competes in the Top 14, the top tier of the National Rugby League (France), French league system. ...

' home stadium, Parc des Sports Saint-Léon was renamed

Stade Jean Dauger Stade Jean-Dauger () is a multi-purpose stadium in Bayonne, France. It is currently used mostly for rugby union matches and is the home stadium of Aviron Bayonnais. After a renovation project completed in 2009, the stadium can hold 14,370 spectato ...

. His daughter Michou married

Jean Grenet Jean Grenet (12 July 1939 – 23 February 2021) was a member of the National Assembly of France. He represented the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department, and was a member of the Radical Party. He was born to politician in Bayonne, Pyrénées ...

, mayor of Bayonne and president of Aviron; their son

François Grenet François Jean Henri Grenet (born 8 March 1975) is a French former professional footballer who played mostly as a right-back and also as a midfielder. Club career Bordeaux Grenet was born in Bordeaux, capital of the ''départment'' of Gironde ...

was a professional footballer with clubs including

Girondins de Bordeaux Football Club des Girondins de Bordeaux (), commonly referred to as Girondins de Bordeaux () or simply Bordeaux, is a French football club based in the city of Bordeaux in Gironde, Nouvelle-Aquitaine. It competes in the Championnat National 2 ...

Rugby union career

* Champion of France (1943) * Vice-Champion of France (1944)

Other

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 ...

finalist for the Côte Basque-Béarn representative team (on 10 April 1944).Le Midi Socialiste, 11 April 1944, p.2, col.4.

International

* International (3 caps) - (1945 and

1953 Five Nations Championship The 1953 Five Nations Championship was the twenty-fourth series of the rugby union Five Nations Championship. Including the previous incarnations as the Home Nations and Five Nations, this was the fifty-ninth series of the northern hemisphere rugb ...

)

Rugby league career

* Champion of

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 ...

with Roanne (1938) * Champion of France with Roanne (1939)

References

External links

Jean Dauger international rugby union statistics
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dauger, Jean 1919 births 1999 deaths Aviron Bayonnais players Dual-code rugby internationals France international rugby union players France national rugby league team players French rugby league players French rugby union coaches French rugby union players 20th-century French sportsmen RC Roanne XIII players Rugby league centres Rugby league players from Nouvelle-Aquitaine Rugby union centres Sportspeople from Pyrénées-Atlantiques Rugby union players from Pyrénées-Atlantiques Basque sportspeople