Robert Paparemborde - a tribute
Garry Bailey
Taken from http://www.planet-rugby.com
Robert Paparemborde, the great France prop and personality, died
during the night of 18/19 April at the age of 52. He had been
suffering from cancer of the pancreas.
Paparemborde was one of the greatest prop forwards of his time,
playing 55 times for France, a record since surpassed by Christian
Califano.
Like Califano he was a hard man and also a mobile player with all the
attributes of a modern prop. He could 'run like a rabbit' and handle
like a back. And he was strong, the judo black belt, and imposing with
his bristling moustache. But everything he did he did with a twinkle
in his eye - an intelligent, good-humoured Hercules.
Daniel Herrero, the famous coach, said that Paparemborde had invented
modern prop play and that “He was always a very clean player, never
cheap and nasty. He brought to his game a certain cheekiness with
variety and originality. He was a very friendly man."
When he retired he had scored more Test tries than any other prop in
the history of the game - eight, the first against the Springboks in
Bloemfontein. In the opposing front row was Robert Cockrell, who also
died of cancer recently.
He captained France five times. He played in Tests against South
Africa, Argentina, Romania, England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales,
Australia, New Zealand and the USA. Opposing props in his career
include Sandy Carmichael and Mighty Mouse McLauchlan of Scotland, Phil
Orr of Ireland, Graham Price and Charlie Faulkner of Wales, Mike
Burton and Fran Cotton of England, Gary Knight and Brad Johnstone of
New Zealand, and Martiens le Roux and Richard Prentiss of South
Africa.
He made his Test debut in a heated affair in Bloemfontein in 1975,
refereed by Scotland's Norman Sanson. It was virtually open warfare
and many penalties, with South Africa winning 38-25. Paparemborde was
then 27 years of age. He was 35 when he retired.
In his playing days, France had some other legendary forwards - Gérard
Cholley, Alain Paco, Michel Palmié, Jean-François Imbernon,
Jean-Pierre Bastiat, Jean-Pierre Rives and Jean-Claude Skrela. France
won Grand Slams in 1977 and 1981.
Originally Paparemborde played for Pau, but in 1983 he moved to Racing
Club de France in Paris for his last season as a player. He hung up
his boots and became a coach at the club, which he took to victory in
the French championship in 1990.
This was not his only involvement in administration. He served for a
short while on the committee of the French Rugby Federation and was a
candidate for the presidency of the Federation in 1991. He and the
Federation’s president did not always see eye to eye, but on receiving
the news of his death Lapasset referred to Paparemborde as “a man of
conviction”.
In a message to “the rugby family”, Lapasset went on to say: “Robert
Paparemborde made his mark in his generation, keeping the French name
high on all the rugby fields of the world. Apart from differences we
had in the past, I shall never forget that Robert was a man of
conviction, fidelity and friendship and that he held the position of
vice-president at a difficult time in our history. I am sad today at
his passing.”
The French Minister of Youth and Sport, Marie-George Buffet, sent a
telegram of condolence to the family expressing her sorrow at the
prop's passing and paying homage to his great sporting career.
Roland Bertranne, French centre during Paparemborde’s playing days,
said: “It is hard to find words to lessen our pain at this time. We
were all very close to Patou. He is leaving us too soon. There were
still so many things to do.”
Bertranne remembered the occasion of a Test match in Bordeaux when
Paparemborde’s wife gave birth to a daughter. The whole team chose the
name and called her France. Bertranne’s wife is the baby’s godmother.
Patou was one of his nicknames and the obvious Papa was another,
becoming more appropriate as he became a veteran player. He was also
referred to as the 'Bear of the Pyrénées'. (Patou, which suited
somebody from Pau is a common French name for a big, friendly dog.)
Rugby was not the whole of Paparemborde’s life. He was also a farmer,
a shopkeeper, a businessman, first in Pau, then in Paris, always in
association with Jean-Pierre Rives. Like fellow prop Jean-Pierre
Garuet, who was elected in Lourdes, Paparemborde was a municipal
councillor, in Pau.
Robert Paparemborde was born in Laruns on 5 July 1948. Laruns is a
beautiful little town in Bearns, near the ski resort of Gourette, the
dramatic Aubisque Pass (Col d'Aubisque)and the Ossau Valley.
He died in a private clinic in Paris. His funeral service will be in
the church of Saint-Martin in Pau at 1100 on Saturday, 21 April. The
burial will be private in family vault in the cemetery of Féas, near
Oloron-Sainte-Marie.
Garry