Vocation : Sports : Rugby

Yves Frantz Loys Marie Le Pelley du Manoir, known as Yves du Manoir (11 August 1904 - 2 January 1928) was a French rugby player.
Du Manoir was born at Vaucresson, into an aristocratic family; his father and mother were Viscount and Viscountess Le Pelley. He excelled at tennis, rowing, swimming, gymnastics and running. He also liked motorcycles. But it was as a rugby player that he stood out. He joined Racing Club de France, a Paris club, as he lived in the prestigious Rue de Rennes in the centre of the city. He was a versatile back, a good kicker and an excellent tackler, who played generally as fly-half.
He won his first cap for France, at the age of 20, on 1 January 1925 at Colombes against Ireland. Despite a 3–9 defeat, his flamboyant style made him the darling of the crowd, who chanted his name during the game, and he was chosen as man of the match. He went on to get seven other caps, one as captain against Scotland in 1927.
The epitome of the perfect gentleman, Du Manoir was also a brain. He enrolled at the prestigious military school École polytechnique, where he graduated as an air force second lieutenant in 1925.
On 2 January 1928 France was hosting Scotland, but Du Manoir had to decline the invitation because that day he had to take an exam at the military camp where he was officially stationed (in Avord, near Bourges) to obtain his diploma that would allow him to qualify as a military pilot. The plane he got on, a Caudron 59, crashed a few minutes after take-off. Apparently, one wheel was caught in the branches of a poplar. The players learnt the news of the accident during the after-match functions. Georges Gerald, the France vice-captain and close friend of Du Manoir's with whom he played for Racing as centre, broke out in tears as he was making the traditional speech.
A monument was built where the accident happened. Barely four months after his death, Racing Club de France renamed its stadium after him. This was where France was going to play almost all its international home fixtures until 1973. There is a statue of Du Manoir at the entrance of the stadium, where Racing Club de France played until 2017.
In 1932, Racing Club de France created a famous club competition named after him, the Challenge Yves du Manoir, dedicated to the spirit of open play.

Michel Celaya (4 July 1930 – 2 January 2020) was a French rugby union player who played at back-row for the France national rugby union team and Biarritz Olympique.

Guy Camberabero (17 March 1936 – 26 October 2023) was a French rugby union footballer. His position was fly-half.
Camberabero played for La Voulte Sportif (one of the predecessor clubs to today's La Voulte-Valence), where he won the French rugby championship, in 1970, and for US Tyrosse.
Camberabero had 14 caps for France national team, from 1961 to 1968, scoring 2 tries, 19 conversions, 11 penalties and 11 drop goals, 110 points on aggregate. He had his first cap at the 32–3 loss to New Zealand, in Christchurch, at 19 August 1961, in a tour. He was a winner of the 1966–67 FIRA Nations Cup, playing a single game in the 60–13 win over Italy on 13 March 1967, scoring 27 points. He played twice at the Five Nations Championship, in 1967 and 1968. He won the Grand Slam in the 1968 Five Nations Championship. He had his last cap at the 14–9 win over Wales, in Cardiff, at 23 March 1968, in his final presence at the competition.Guy Camberabero was the brother of fellow French international rugby union player Lilian Camberabero and father of Didier Camberabero.
Guy Camberabero died in Valence, Drôme on 26 October 2023, at the age of 87 from COVID-19 during the COVID-19 pandemic in France.

André Boniface (born 14 August 1934) is a former international rugby union player for France. His usual position was either on the wing or in the centres. His Test career for France, 1954 through to 1966, included 48 caps and 44 points. Boniface was inducted into the International Rugby Hall of Fame in 2005. Both he and his younger brother Guy Boniface were inducted into the IRB Hall of Fame in March 2011.

Jean-Pierre Bastiat (11 April 1949 – 3 February 2021) was a French international rugby union player. He played as a Lock and Number 8 for US Dax.
Bastiat was born in Pouillon, Landes. As a youngster, Bariet played basketball. He earned his first cap with the French national team on 14 December 1969 against Romania at Colombes. He won the 1970 and 1973 Five Nations Championships, as well as the Grand Slam in the 1977 Five Nations Championship. The next year he captained France replacing the retired Jacques Fouroux. He retired in 1978 due to a knee injury. In total, Bastiat made 32 appearances for France between 1969 and 1978.He died on 3 February 2021, following a stroke.

Pierre Albaladejo (born 14 December 1933 in Dax) is a former French rugby union player. His usual position was at fly-half or at fullback.
He played all his career for Dax, from 1952/53 to 1965/66.
He had 30 caps for France, from 1954 to 1964, scoring 16 conversions, 12 penalties and 12 drop goals, 104 points on aggregate.He achieved the rank of Officer in France's Legion of Honour.

Jean-Pierre Rives (born 31 December 1952) is a French former rugby union player and visual artist.
"A cult figure in France", according to the BBC, he came to epitomise the team's spirit and "ultra-committed, guts-and-glory style of play".
He won 59 caps for France – 34 of them as captain – and was inducted into the International Rugby Hall of Fame.
After retiring from the sport, Rives concentrated entirely on his art.
He is both a painter and a sculptor, and exhibiting regularly at prominent public venues all over the globe. Rives was awarded the Order of the Legion of Honor and the National Order of Merit by the government of France.
He met Russell Yapp in Australia in 1994. They then became best mates from that day on with Russel Yapp wearing his tour tie to every event!