KeithQuinnRugby
Thinking and talking about rugby every day for 50+ years
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I cannot believe it was so long ago! But right from a VERY young age at Benneydale and Berhampore in New Zealand I knew I wanted to write and talk about rugby - and I've been doing it all my life. (And many more to come I hope!)
GACHASSIN, JEAN
Lourdes and France
32 internationals for France 1961–69
Physically one of the smallest players to ever appear regularly in international rugby, Gachassin was also a brilliant exponent of the best running skills of back play. He appeared for his country in four backline positions: first as a wing in 1961 and later as a fullback, centre and flyhalf.
Gachassin was only 1.62 metres tall (5 ft 4 ins), and weighed 63 kilograms (9 stone 12lbs). One journalist listed the following nicknames for Gachassin at one or another time in his career: the ‘Pocket Wing’, ‘Peter Pan’, the ‘Mighty Atom’, or the ‘Bagnères Flea’. Nevertheless, he was one of the most popular figures in French rugby in the 1960s.
His popularity has continued in the sport of tennis where he has been the President of French Tennis Federation for a number of years and is regularly seen sitting courtside at Roland Garros when the famous French Open tournament in played.
In which town or city was the first international rugby match played in Wales?
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