Jacques Merquey (born 26 September 1929)
/ref> also known by the nickname of "Jackiew", as a French

rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

footballer of the 1950s. A dual-code rugby international, his position was , later in his career this changed to . While Merquey started in union, he played the vast majority of his career in rugby league. He played his club rugby league for Marseille, Sporting Olympique Avignon XIII and Lezignan, becoming the most capped International, with 37 games for France. Merquey is the only Frenchman to play in the first three successive World Cups, in

1954 Events January * January 1 – The Soviet Union ceases to demand war reparations from West Germany. * January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. * January 7 – Georgetown-IBM experiment: The fir ...

1957 1957 ( MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1957th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 957th year of the 2nd millennium, the 57th year of the 20th century, and the 8th y ...

and

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Ja ...

. Merquey originally played rugby union, where he also represented France, in a total of four games against England, Wales, Ireland and Scotland in 1950. However he much preferred rugby league and quickly changed codes. In 1951 Merquey was part of the first ever French rugby league tour of Australia. Merquey played superbly throughout the three Test series, won triumphantly by France 2-1 before over 157,000 spectators. He was selected to represent France as they hosted the

1954 Rugby League World Cup The 1954 Rugby League World Cup was rugby league football's first World Cup and was held in France in October–November 1954. Officially known as the "Rugby World Cup", SPARC, 2009: 28 four nations competed in the tournament: Australia, France, ...

, also the first ever. His French side beat New Zealand. He played a strong role in France's draw with Great Britain and scored a crucial try in the victory over

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

to secure a position in the final, where France lost 12 to 6 to Great Britain. In the

1957 Rugby League World Cup The second Rugby League World Cup was held in Australia in 1957. As before a group stage was held first, with matches being held at locations in Sydney and Brisbane. The 1957 World Cup marked the 50th anniversary of rugby league in Australia bu ...

, Merquey captained France, scoring a try in the defeat by Great Britain and leading them to victory over New Zealand. He was then selected to captain the Rest-of-the-World side against

. The

1960 Rugby League World Cup The 1960 Rugby League World Cup was the third staging of the tournament and the first Rugby League World Cup to be held in Great Britain. The same format as used in 1957 was used, with a group stage leading to a final table. The 1960 World Cup ...

would be his last, where he played stand-off in all of France's games.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Merquey, Jacques 1929 births Living people Dual-code rugby internationals France international rugby union players France national rugby league team captains France national rugby league team players French rugby league players French rugby union players Marseille XIII players Rugby league centres Rugby league five-eighths Sporting Olympique Avignon players Villeneuve Leopards players Sportspeople from Lot (department) RC Toulonnais players Rugby union centres