Jean-Pierre Rives

Jean-Pierre Rives

Player information
Full name	Jean-Pierre Rives
birthday	December 31, 1952
place of birth	Toulouse , France
Nickname	Casque d'or ("gold helmet")
society
society	Career ended
position	Winger
Clubs as active
Years	society	Games (points)
1972-1974 1974-1981 1981-1986	Stade Beaumontois Stade Toulousain Racing Club de France
Teams in youth
Years	team
1967-1972	TOEC
National team
Years	National team	Games (points)
1975-1984	France	59 (20)

Jean-Pierre Rives (born December 31, 1952 in Toulouse ) is a former French rugby union player . He played in the position of winger for the clubs Stade Toulousain and Racing Club de France . With the French national team he played 59 games, 34 of them as captain. Since his resignation, Rives has been an internationally known sculptor .

Sports

Until 1972, Rives played for the Toulouse Olympique Employés Club (TOEC), with which he was French youth champion, then for Stade Beaumontois in Beaumont-de-Lomagne . The greatest successes at club level he had from 1974 to 1981 with Stade Toulousain . In the 1977/78 season he reached the semi-finals of the championship, which was partially held in cup format, and the quarter-finals in the 1978/79 season. His only chance to become champions was at the end of the 1979/80 season. But Stade Toulousain lost in the final of AS Béziers .

In 1977 and 1978, Rives was invited to play for the English Barbarians , which is considered a great honor for rugby union players. In 1981 he moved from Stade Toulousain to Paris to the Racing Club de France . This was an unusual step for the time, because due to the strict amateur regulations, players were excluded from the French championship for one season during transfers. In 1984 he played his last international match, two years later he announced his retirement from top-class sport.

Rives made his debut for the national team in 1975. For this he played a total of 59 games, including 34 as captain (which was a record at the time). In 1977 and 1981 he led the French to victory at the traditional Five Nations tournament , both times with a Grand Slam , i.e. with victories against all other teams. With the national team he took part in tours to Argentina (1975 and 1977), the USA (1976), New Zealand (1979), South Africa (1980) and Australia (1981). On July 14, 1979, he was involved in Auckland in the first away win of the French against the New Zealand All Blacks .

Rives was named France's best player in 1977, 1979 and 1981. In 1997 he was inducted into the International Rugby Hall of Fame (as the first Frenchman, together with Serge Blanco ). He was Vice-President of the successful French Candidates Committee for hosting the 2007 Rugby Union World Cup .

art

In the early 1980s, Rives discovered a sculpture by Albert Féraud in a friend's house . After meeting the artist in his studio, he decided to become a sculptor himself . In the following years he became known in the international art scene with monumental iron sculptures. He had his first exhibition in 1990 in Le Touquet . Numerous gallery and open-air exhibitions at home and abroad followed, including in Los Angeles (1996), New York (1997) and Sydney (2006). In 2003 he was the first sculptor after Auguste Rodin to exhibit his works in the Jardin du Luxembourg . Rives designed the Giuseppe Garibaldi trophy , which has been presented to the winning team of the France – Italy match at the Six Nations tournament since 2007 . In addition to his artistic activities, he is the owner of restaurants in Paris and Toulouse.

Rives has also appeared in several films. In 1987 he played in the movie Qui sont mes juges? at the side of Claude Jade a truck driver in search of his kidnapped family. In 1990 he had a small supporting role in Connemara . After all, he was seen in the 2001 film Vercingétorix - Fight against Rome (with Christopher Lambert in the lead role) as the leader of the Teutons .

literature

• Olivier Orban (Ed.): Jean-Pierre Rives: Le rugby comme il vient. 1979, ISBN 2855650895 .
• Peter Bills: Jean-Pierre Rives, biography autorisée. Éditions Solar, Paris 1998, ISBN 2263010513 .
• Richard Escot: D'art et d'essais: Conversations avec Jean-Pierre Rives. Editions de La Martinière, Paris 1998, ISBN 2846750742 .

Web links

• Jean-Pierre Rives website
• Statistics on scrum.com
• Sculptures by Jean-Pierre Rives
• Jean-Pierre Rives in the Internet Movie Database (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Tracey Roberts Art Dealer: Jean-Pierre Rives (list of exhibitions)
2. ^ French rugby hero Rives joins Rodin as sculptor on the Rive Gauche , The Independent , December 6, 2002