rugby : Narbonne in the story of the French XV
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Rugby as a social pact? The flagship team of Narbonne was born out of the union between civilian and military teams, following the bloody repression of the winegrowers’ revolt. A “peace of the brave”, ball in hand - the RCNM historian remembers…
Ecouter Jean Rubiella
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Jo Maso
"An enjoyable stop at a café terrace" |
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Jo Maso
"The Spanghero's, a unique family" |
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Jean Rubiella
"A magnificent symbol of reconciliation" |
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Jean Rubiella : "A magnificent symbol of reconciliation" |
The names of the two protagonists of the rapprochement have gone down in local history: Jean Piquemal of the Sporting team and Sergeant Bec of the 80th Infantry Regiment. The score was not the only thing at stake in the encounter that was fought out a few weeks after the bloody events. In the words of Jean Rubiella , “it was a magnificent symbol of reconciliation”.
On the 19th and 20th of June 1907, the wine crisis, caused by a collapse in prices, reached a tragic climax in Narbonne when the Deputy Mayor of the city, Doctor Ernest Ferroul, a republican socialist whose call for civil disobedience had been heeded, was arrested. Against a background of national tension, Georges Clemenceau, the self-named “leading cop in France”, decided that the law was the law. On the 19th, he sent in the troops to disperse protesters, who were assailing the headquarters of the sub-prefect. One worker was killed and many more were injured. On the 20th, soldiers of the 139th Aurillac Line Regiment opened fire twice, on the Town Hall Square. Five civilians were shot and killed; they included Cécile Bourrel, aged 20.
The revolt, and the ensuing trauma caused by its repression, has become part of the identity of Narbonne. And of the RCN (now RCNM - "M" for Mediterranean), which will always be a club not quite like the others.
M. Jean Rubiella is the author of an album Cent ans d’émotions. Racing club narbonnais published by Universelles.
