Rugby League, French Style

As we can now see the end of our time in France approaching, I thought it was about time that I wrote about the reason we are here in the first place: rugby league.

Having been a dedicated 'wag' for years, and a lounge room fan for many more, I feel as though I have some understanding of the sport as it is played in Australia. I knew enough anyway to tell from the first game I watched that it is a different ball game in France.

There is enough similarity in the game to know that it is rugby league. However there are some very distinct differences that have left me puzzled. Some of them come down to the influence of other popular sports in this part of the world, while others can only be attributed to the unique characteristics of the French.

The two teams line up for the formalities. Marty is fourth from the right in the red and black of Limoux.

Here are some examples of the quirkiness of rugby league in France:

I'll start with the team warm up. This takes place on the edges of the field, often while the previous game is still in action. It is an odd sight to see a full team running through their warm up on the field of play, marker cones set up throughout the in-goal area, somewhat oblivious to the game that is still being played on the field. That is until the referee yells for them to shuffle out of the way as the game approaches the try line and players run through to score their try among the group of men warming up. The fact that the team warming up and one of the teams playing are wearing the same colours only adds to the confusion of the situation!

I have found that it pays to get to a game early, as the scheduled time of kick is not necessarily adhered to. A characteristic of the French is their often laid back attitude to time, which flows through to the football games, when the time of kickoff can change without notice. I was preparing to attend a game one day, which was scheduled to kick off at 3pm. Marty came home from the team lunch and advised that it had been moved back to 3.30pm. I starting doing some other things to fill in the time when Marty let me know that the time had been moved forward to the original time of 3pm. I arrived early, however kick off didn't come until 3.15pm.

But before the game can begin, a number of formalities must take place. I am used to seeing teams burst out onto the field pumped up and ready to play. Here, the music has the right beat, but the teams walk out solemnly and stand in a line shoulder-to-shoulder to shake hands with the presidents from both competing football clubs. But it doesn't end there. Once the players have assumed their starting positions on the field, a representative from the visiting club takes to the tee for an honorary kick off.

The field at Limoux

Once the game finally gets underway, there are a few aspects that vary from our norm. One is the use of the card system for sending players off. That is, instead of holding up both hands to indicate a player is being sent off for ten minutes, a yellow card is drawn out of the referee's pocket and held above his head. Similarly, a red card signifies that the player is not to return to the game. This, I'm told, is similar to the card system used in the Super League competition in England, and in the game of soccer internationally.

Penalties can be rife in a game, as a player can be penalised for the slightest little bit of push and shove, even if warranted. While this seems to eliminate 'biff' from the game, it can be unjust when a player is provoked, which can happen to force a reaction and ultimately a penalty.

There are events during the game which can be a cause for celebration on the field, even if you aren't supposed to be on there. In one particular game, the score line came down to the wire. Limoux scored a try in the dying minutes to level the score, and the players embraced in celebration. They were quickly joined in their embrace by one of the ball boys, who had run onto the field and jumped onto the back of a player. The conversion that followed this try came in the 79th minute, and was successful, prompting players on the bench to run on the field and congratulate the kicker as he was running back into position for the kick-off.

The language barrier doesn't seem to be too much of a challenge at this point, as Marty has learnt what he needs to know to communicate to his team mates on the field. Understanding the referee is where the challenges can lie, particularly when the referee is somewhat naive to the rules of the game.

On one particular occasion, a tackle was made by a foreign player on Marty's team, with the referee yelling out 'surrender'. The rule around this call is that the tackler can take a little longer to get out of the tackle. That is of course, unless the referee doesn't understand this rule and claims to have made a mistake, as he did on this particular occasion, and consequently penalised the player for staying in the tackle for too long.

Limoux supporters are loud and proud!

Sometimes it is no wander that frustration at the referee builds, however a certain level of respect is always demanded...in Australia at least. I have been in the crowd at the end of a game here when a French player approached the referee and began hurling verbal abuse in his direction. The situation escalated to the point that the referee was pacing quickly around the field to get away from the player, and was eventually escorted to the sheds by security as the abuse continued.

Needless to say the player was sent to front the tribunal to answer for his actions, but this process is yet another quirk in the game here. You see, a player may be placed on report in a game one week, but the case may not be considered by the Federation for a few weeks to come. This results in the player continuing to play a number of games until he is finally suspended weeks later. You can imagine the disruptions that this can cause, especially when the player is finally suspended ahead of important or tough games weeks after the incident.

Finally, the scheduling of the games for the season seems to be somewhat flexible. There are spare weekends scheduled into the draw to allow for games that were postponed due to weather or field condition to be played at a later date. This makes for a great opportunity to take a short trip on the spare  weekends if there are no make-up games to be played.

However what do you do when you approach the end of the season and there are no allocated make-up weekends left, but you have a previously postponed game to play? Well, in France, you play the game mid-week. That's right, any given Wednesday will do. This week, Marty played a scheduled game on Sunday, is due to play a make-up game Wednesday, and then back-up for another game on Sunday, which was not actually scheduled for this weekend originally however was moved forward to allow the opposing team to play another game on the original scheduled date. Phew! This will prove to be a tough week at the office!

This paints a bit of a picture of the game that is rugby league in France from my point of view. It is a game that is both entertaining and frustrating at the same time!

The Limoux Grizzlies team for season 2012/2013