Jean Desclaux (25 June 1922 – 23 March 2006) 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 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 and represented France A eight times.
As coach he managed US Dax from 1959 to 1973 winning two French Cups and joining the French Championship's final four times.
[Décès de Jean Desclaux]
from '' L'Équipe''.
In 1973 Desclaux was appointed manager of the
French national team, which he led to the victory in two
Six Nations Championship
The Six Nations Championship (known as the Six Nations, branded as Guinness M6N) is an annual international rugby union competition by the teams of England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. It is the oldest sports tournament conte ...
s, in
1973
Events January
* January 1 – The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union.
* January 14 - The 16-0 19 ...
and in
1977 (the latter achieving the Grand Slam).
Another achievement was the victory in
Auckland
Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...
the 14 July 1979, the first ever against the
All Blacks on their home field.
Once he got back to the
US Dax in 1980 he went on coaching that club until 1994, winning the French Cup again in 1982.
After definitive retirement he was appointed President of US Dax.
He died in Dax on 23 March 2006 after a long illness.
References
External links
Desclaux mourned by French rugby ''BBC.co.uk'', 24 March 2006
1922 births
2006 deaths
Rugby union players from Dax, Landes
French rugby union players
20th-century French sportsmen
French rugby union coaches
France national rugby union team coaches
US Dax coaches
US Dax players
US Dax executives
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