Rugger Girls: Part 16. Transition

1990: TRANSITION? WHAT TRANSITION?

Sixteenth chapter of the summary of the history of women's rugby in France, from the book "Rugger Girls"("Des Filles en Ovalie"), written by Jacques B. Corti and Yaneth Pinilla Foreword by Serge Betsen. Published weekly(ish) by French women's rugby blog Des Filles en Ovalie.

The transition, from AFRF to FFR, turned to confusion. The recognition of women's rugby by the FFR has not fulfilled the expectations of the AFRF, the championship clubs, or the French national team. See what happened for the Championship. For the first two years, the FFR has left the clubs to continue as they had with the AFRF. "After that, they asked us to return to the operation of sports, administrative and medical commissions".

Despite the liaison work carried out by Nadine Leterre, "regional committees of the FFR did not know what to do. This situation lasted 3 or 4 years before matters improved," remembers Marie-Céline Bernard, who adds: "the clubs did not know who to write to ask for help. This very quickly became a problem."

At this time the International Confederation of Women's Rugby came into the fold of the FIRA.

In 1991 and 1992, the French Cup was cancelled. Only French A and B Group Championships were retained. And the national French team was not sheltered from the turmoil sweeping women's rugby.

From the 1991 international season, Marc Gosse called Jean-Pierre Puidebois and Marie-Céline Bernard to lead the French team. Their predecessors only learnt these appointments from the press. Marie-Céline Bernard also recalls this episode: "I received a letter informing me that I was appointed". She was the only woman the Federation informed.

1990s: THE FIRST WORLD CUP

Extract from the book "Des Filles en Ovalie", Editions Atlantica (2005), Written by Jacques B. Corti / Yaneth Pinilla Foreword by Serge Betsen.