Formed 2004 ... Herts 7s U14 Runners-up 2005 ... North Herts U14 team, Herts Youth Games 2005 runners-up (coached by Letchworth)... Herts Superteams U14 Runners-up 2005 ... Herts SuperTeams "Fairplay" winners 2006 ... Rochford 10s U17 Champions 2006 ... East Midlands 10s U17 Runners-up 2007 ... East Midlands 10s U17 "Fairplay" winners 2007 ... National 10s U17 5th place and "Fairplay" winners 2007 ... Herts 7s U17 Plate runners-up 2007 ... National 7s U17 Plate winners 2007 ... RFU "President's XV" Award winners 2007 ... Herts Superteams winners 2007 ... Midlands 10s U18 Runners-up 2008 ... National 10s U18 4th place 2008 ... North Herts U11 team, Herts Youth Games 2008 runners-up (coached by Letchworth girls) ... London and SE 7s U18 Plate runners-up 2008 ... Herts 7s U18s runners-up 2008 ... National 7s U18s quarter-finalists 2008 ... Gloucester City 10s U18 Bowl runner-up (6th) 2009 ... Worthing 10s U18 Plate runner-up 2009 ... National 7s U18 Plate winners 2009... Worthing 10s U15 Plate winners 2010... Worthing 10s U18 Shield winners 2010... Herts 7s U15 and U18 Bowl runners-up 2010... National 7s U18 Plate runners-up 2010...

Monday, October 03, 2011

Mêlée spontanée - les mains loin!

Pity the poor French rugby referee who - thanks to the demands of the French language police - will now, presumably, have to shout out the above tongue twister (eight syllables) instead of the rather more direct "ruck - hands away" (three) that we are used to.

This is one little gem to be found in the French government's response to the World Cup - Ballon ovale… Prêts pour la mêlée ? - a guide to the "correct" French words to be used when talking or writing about rugby.

Other interesting French words for English rugby terminology include raffut for
"hand-off" - an odd choice for a word that normally means "racket" (as in the sense of a loud noise or argument - hullabaloo would be another equivalent). Indeed you wonder how much the French government's language experts know about the game as they kindly give us French translations for "goal average", "sparring partner" and "time-out" but nothing at all for "maul", "scrum/scrummage", or "bottle" (in the sense of the verb describing what New Zealand men's rugby teams normally do).

Even so - much here to impress a teacher or examiner for anyone who is doing GCSE French!

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