French got rugby an Olympic ban

As France heads into the Six Nations rugby tournament amid moves to tackle violent contact and an increase in injuries, it can look back to when the violence of its fans got rugby banned from the Olympics.

After winning gold in the first Olympic Games in Paris in 1900, France next made the final in 1920 when they lost to the US in Antwerp. Four years later, in Paris, the Americans returned to defend their Olym­pic title.

Again they faced France and, in front of a home crowd of 40,000 at the Stade de Colombes the US team, made up of players from Cal­i­fornian universities, were not given much of a chance as they had mostly been players of American football or basketball and not rugby.

But, despite only learning the game on the liner crossing the Atlantic the Americans tore the French apart.

Fitter and better prepared, the Americans were quickly on top but the crowd turned on them, and after two French players were stretchered off hurt in tackles, fighting started on both the pitch and the terraces.

A pitch invasion was the final straw and the bad publicity for the Olympics saw rugby left out of the next Games, in 1928.

France starts the 2018 Six Nations with a home game against Ireland on February 3 that will, to a large part, decide their future in the tournament.

They will be under new coach Jacques Brunel who took over after Guy Novès was sacked just after Christmas.

He says the side will go back to basics in a bid to turn round a run that saw just seven wins in 21 matches. He has experience in turning sides round as he coached Italy for five years, during which they beat France twice.

France 2 TV will screen all the Six Nations matches as well as all the French women’s games.