French brought bottle and bias to 1930 international

The French team that came to Belfast to play Ireland in a rugby international back in 1930 came equipped with barrels of fine wine for the occasion.

The French travelled by ferry and train via London for the match 85 years ago. Their official baggage included four barrels of high-quality wine from Bordeaux donated by a rugby-loving vigneron, who may have worried there was nothing worth drinking in Belfast.

A full-page illustration on the front page of the weekly newspaper Le Petit Journal showed French players on the sideline at Ravenhill being served glasses of wine from a barrel by a beaming gentleman wearing a beret.

The newspaper was included in a collection of early 20th century European newspapers containing stories of Irish interest that turned up at Irish rare books specialist Fonsie Mealy Auctioneers.

The illustration was captioned: “Le Bon Vin de France Porte Chance” (The good wine of France brings luck) and “L’équipe Française de rugby se prépare à battre l’équipe d’Irlande en trinquant avec du vin apporté de chez nous” (The French rugby team, preparing to beat Ireland, drink a toast with wine brought from home).

Irish team members and supporters in the stands looked on in astonishment as the French took on their refreshments. The ritual seemed to have the approval of the Federation Française de Rugby (FFR) – their logo appears on a French tricolour decorating the table on which the barrels were placed.

While such preparation would probably be frowned upon ahead of today’s Six Nations game between the sides at Lansdowne Road (5pm), it worked quite well back in January 1930. France won the match 5-0, in what was then known as the Five Nations Championship. The French media gloated afterwards the wine had helped to ensure victory.

But some of the Irish fans drowned their sorrows at French expense. One of the barrels was stolen from the French team’s hotel.

A spokesman for Les Bleus told the media and the police they didn't expect to get the barrel back – and certainly not full, as that would be an insult to the quality of French wine.