the essential
While the French XV challenges South Africa this Sunday, October 15 for a place in the semi-final of the World Cup, the former Stade Toulousain winger (76 years old), nicknamed “La Flèche Noire” (9 caps in France from 1969 to 1973) made history during a tour with the Springboks in 1971 in the middle of apartheid. For La Dépêche du Midihe remembers his memories.
This France – South Africa makes us think back to this tour of the French team to South Africa in 1971 in which you participated.
A memory that is both painful and joyful. I arrived there in South Africa without having the ulterior motive of going there to try to do something good. It’s a good memory, especially since the tour was really successful, apart from one defeat. Eight wins and a draw wasn’t bad. I played almost every game except one.
When we talk about bad memories, we imagine that these are the seven stitches in the head that we received. We can say that you have been taken care of…
Yes there was an error (smile). On a ball that was lying on the ground, a South African player whose name I don’t remember made a mistake and took my head towards the ball (smile).
It’s okay to call it a mistake…
Yes, they said it was unintentional (smile). But that didn’t stop me from finishing the match. I only went for treatment at the end. But it was very painful because the doctor who was on duty that day was a bit Afrikaner and a bit racist. So he did this to me in a very painful way. A butcher. I didn’t miss him. But hey, I don’t blame him…
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Have you also had to endure racist comments?
Not the lyrics because given the atmosphere there and the screams, it was difficult to hear… And then for the lyrics, we had to translate. I wasn’t comfortable enough to be able to translate everything that was said. So the words weren’t important.
And in the stands, what were the reactions when you touched the ball?
I was lucky in Johannesburg where there was a platform reserved for people of color. A small space well surrounded by police. As soon as I touched the ball, it was immense joy. And they were louder than all the other spectators.
And did it give you a little boost?
Already the fact of going there with all the problems that it represented before to be able to go there, I was pumped up. And then, above all, I wanted to prove that it was not a question of color but of level of rugby. I could have had walls in front and it wouldn’t have bothered me.
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Some later said you were selected because you were a man of color. But you demonstrated on the pitch that you deserved your place.
And at the start, I wasn’t supposed to go, it was my friend Charly Amade who was selected. And after a discussion between Mr. Couderc, Mr. Ferrasse (Editor’s note: president of the FFR) and Mr. Craven (Editor’s note: president of the South African federation), they felt that it would perhaps be a good thing to move forward the situation that I’m going there in South Africa. I was selected in the second round.
And why Roger Couderc who was then a television man?
He had opinions. He didn’t understand why a colored player couldn’t go to South Africa. This shocked him a little. And he did whatever it took to make it happen.
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At the time, your presence required permission from the South African government.
It should be remembered that the South African government had already, in 1970, signed an agreement with the All Blacks so that non-whites could go to South Africa. There was no tour. Let’s say that the fact of going there subsequently accelerated things, but this was already planned by the South African government.
And this tour went down in the history of world sport.
Yes, unintentionally, I didn’t think we would still be talking about going to play there today. To me this seems so absurd. Why only talk about color? In a country like South Africa at the time, it was like that. I think today it’s even better but I haven’t been able to verify it. I think maybe one day I will go.
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When you went to South Africa, did you imagine such an impact?
Certainly not. Let’s say that initially, when I arrived in South Africa, there was not much promotion regarding my coming. That’s why when we arrived at the airport, the first black airport workers were surprised to see a black man getting off the plane. Because obviously, they had taken the precaution of making me get off first. It was a little game. Everyone was surprised. When we got to the hotel, the people who worked at the hotel didn’t understand why I was going to a room normally reserved for whites.
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Were you tempted to act during this tour?
No, I was there to play sports. My first idea was sport. The action could be done afterwards. Telling what was happening was an action for me.
You realized when you were there that you were a man of color…
That is to say, I really realized that I was black when I was there. I was born in Toulouse. There have always been little things. But I’ve never been called black. Of negro. I had to go there to realize that I was really black.
Are we talking about apartheid during those years?
No, we haven’t talked about it. The news was not like today. You had to read between the lines to know that this was happening. And that was underlined by the fact that I went there.
Looking back, do you think your selection was better than a boycott?
Ah yes of course. It’s true that we had to wait quite a while but when we see today that the captain of the South Africans is a black player. There is progress. But that’s the part we see. I ask to see him there.
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Would you have liked to meet Nelson Mandela?
Oh yes of course, especially since when we went there, there was no question of Nelson Mandela. It was one. Even black South Africans didn’t talk about it much. We went with the people to the townships to see what it was like. We saw the misery of these people. How could they live? We went to the mines, it was the penal colony. They worked 18 hours a day. It was catastrophic. So, I would like to believe that there has been an improvement but I don’t know to what extent.
We understand that the French team went to a nightclub one evening and that personally, you almost didn’t come back…
It’s always the same thing. To annoy everyone, they put me in front. And the doorman when he saw a black man, he said: “It’s forbidden.” » And finally, they quickly came back to get us because someone came to tell them that they had to leave. Either way, we all went together or no one.
You are talking about a form of solidarity on the part of the France team.
Between us, we never talked about color. For them, I was Boubou, a player like the others. I was a player among others. And still today, where we find ourselves among former internationals.
Is it true that on the pitch, your counterpart gave you his jersey at the end?
Yes, it was during the test match, my counterpart, whose name was Muller, came to shake my hand and gave me his jersey. That meant something. I don’t know if he had any problems afterwards but on his part it was courageous in the context. Respect.
It is also a sporting recognition.
Yes because I went there and I didn’t get out.
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There was also a good general fight. Was it linked to racism?
They had tried a little to touch me up close. Here we go. I think it’s the longest in history. Candlelight, reception, fight. And a candle, again. For ten minutes. And we thought the match wasn’t going to end.
It cements a group…
Ah yes, yes, the group was solid and nothing else.
Do you have any ties to these former players?
Yes, during meetings with former internationals. But above all, we have relationships with the veterans of the Stadium.
The opportunity to remember that you played at Stade Toulousain. But you were not champion of France by losing the final in 1969 (Editor’s note: 11-9 against Bègles). Tell us about it.
It’s my worst memory. I score a try. And the referee whistles a forward fifty or sixty meters higher. This is my biggest disappointment. I would have liked to be French champion. But with the alumni of 1969, we have always remained united. We still see each other at least once a year. It’s a family, it’s more than friends. We are all truly united.
He is today mayor of Prunet in Haute-Garonne.
Roger Bourgarel is 76 years old and is today mayor of Prunet, a small town in Lauragais: “It’s almost a full-time job with all the meetings, everything that gets done. I am very busy. » He maintains his link with rugby with his generation from Stade Toulousain, finalist in 1969, and says he is seduced by this current generation: “Because they play. only kicks, where everyone crashes. Today I wonder how the three-quarter wing can exist. Classic attacks no longer exist. The people of Toulouse still do it. And in the same way when they are in the France team, they try to achieve it. And we see an enjoyable game. This isn’t a wrestling match. »
