Félix "René" Lasserre (9 October 1895 – 19 August 1965) was a French rugby union player who competed in the 1924 Summer Olympics. He was born in Bayonne and died in Saint-Avold. In 1924 he won the silver medal as member of the French team.
Pierre Lacroix (23 January 1935 – 28 March 2019) was a French rugby union player who played at scrum-half for the France national team.He played most of his player career for SU Agen, from 1959/60 to 1970/71. He won three times the French Championship, in 1961/62, 1964/65 and 1965/66.
On 9 March 1958, Lacroix made his debut for France in a 19–0 victory over Australia during their 1957–58 tour of Britain, Ireland and France. Lacroix scored his first try for France on 26 March 1960 in a 16–8 victory over Wales during the 1960 Five Nations Championship. Lacroix made his final appearance for France on 23 March 1963 in a 5–3 victory over Wales during the 1963 Five Nations Championship. Over the course of his international career, Lacroix earned 27 caps for France and scored 4 tries (for a total of 12 points). In his final nine appearances for France, Lacroix served as the team's captain.
Adolphe Jauréguy (18 February 1898 – 4 September 1977) was a French rugby union player who competed in the 1924 Summer Olympics. He was born in Ostabat-Asme and died in Toulouse. He played in nine Five Nations Championships: in 1920, 1922, 1923, 1924, 1925, 1926, 1927, 1928 and 1929. In 1924 he won the silver medal as member of the French team.
André Herrero (born January 28, 1938) is a former rugby union player. He played for the French Rugby team as a flanker. Herrero is of Spanish descent.
Jean Galia (born 20 March 1905 in Ille-sur-Têt, Pyrénées-Orientales, died 17 January 1949 in Toulouse) was a French rugby union and rugby league footballer and champion boxer. He is credited with establishing the sport of rugby league in France in 1934, where it is known as rugby à treize ("rugby 13s").
Playing in the forwards, Galia made his international debut for the France national rugby union team in a 1927 test against England in Paris. After 20 internationals, He later played in France's first ever rugby league international, also against England in Paris, on 15 April 1934 and was captain of the France national rugby league team in its early days. Following France's tour of Northern England, Galia arranged a series of demonstration matches around France.The Courtney Goodwill Trophy, international rugby league's first, was presented for the first time in 1936 and depicted Galia, along with other pioneering greats of the code, James Lomas (Britain), Albert Baskiville (New Zealand) and Dally Messenger (Australia).In 1988 Galia was inducted into the Rugby League Hall of Fame.
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.