Jean-Claude Skrela (born 1 October 1949 in

Colomiers Colomiers (; oc, Colomèrs; Languedocien dialect: ''Colomièrs'') is a Communes of France, commune in the Haute-Garonne Departments of France, department in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania Regions of France, region in Southwester ...

, Haute-Garonne) is a former coach of the

French national rugby union team The France national rugby union team () represents France in men's international rugby union and it is administered by the French Rugby Federation. They traditionally play in blue shirts emblazoned with the national emblem of a golden rooster ...

. His son,

David Skrela David Skrela (born 2 March 1979) is a former French rugby union footballer. He most notably played for Stade Français and Toulouse in the Top 14 as well as the French national side as a fly-half or centre. He was renowned for his tackles and his ...

, is a French rugby union player and his daughter, Gaëlle Skrela, is a professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player.

Early life

Skrela was born in

near

Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Par ...

in France. His parents were Polish refugees (his father came from the village Kobiela, his mother from the village Charbinowice). He lost his father when he was 12.

Playing career

He played for

FC Auch Football Club Auch Gers is a French rugby union club based in Auch in Midi-Pyrénées most recently playing in the promotion-eligible pool of Fédérale 1. In recent years, they have mainly bounced between the first-level Top 14 and Pro D2. In a ...

and

Stade Toulousain Stade Toulousain () ( oc, Estadi Tolosenc), also referred to as Toulouse, is a professional rugby union club based in Toulouse, France. They compete in the Top 14, France's top division of rugby, and the European Rugby Champions Cup. Toulou ...

and made his debut for in 1971 against . He won forty-six caps and won the

Five Nations Championship The Six Nations Championship (known as the Guinness Six Nations for sponsorship reasons) is an annual international men's rugby union competition between the teams of England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. The current champions ar ...

in 1973 (tie victory) and in 1977 (

Grand Slam Grand Slam most often refers to: * Grand Slam (tennis), one player or pair winning all four major annual tournaments, or the tournaments themselves Grand Slam or Grand slam may also refer to: Games and sports * Grand slam, winning category te ...

). He also scored the first four-point

try Try or TRY may refer to: Music Albums * ''Try!'', an album by the John Mayer Trio * ''Try'' (Bebo Norman album) (2014) Songs * "Try" (Blue Rodeo song) (1987) * "Try" (Colbie Caillat song) (2014) * "Try" (Nelly Furtado song) (2004) * " Try (Ju ...

in a major Test match on 20 November 1971, when he charged down a kick from Australian fullback Arthur McGill.

Coaching

In 1983, he joined his team-mate

Pierre Villepreux Pierre Villepreux (born 5 July 1943) is a former France, French rugby union player and coach. He played at full back and fly half for Stade Toulousain, Toulouse, and won 34 caps for France national rugby union team, France between 1967 and 1972. V ...

as coach of

. They won three times the

home championship The British Home Championship * sco, Hame Internaitional Kemp * gd, Farpais lìg eadar-nàiseanta * cy, Pencampwriaeth y Pedair Gwlad, name=lang (historically known as the British International Championship or simply the International Champio ...

, twice against

Toulon Toulon (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Tolon , , ) is a city on the French Riviera and a large port on the Mediterranean coast, with a major naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, and the Provence province, Toulon is th ...

(in 1985 and in 1989) and against

Agen The communes of France, commune of Agen (, ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Lot-et-Garonne Departments of France, department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine, southwestern France. It lies on the river Garonne southeast of Bordeaux. ...

in 1986. He was appointed director of rugby at

in 1994 but left his position to replace

Pierre Berbizier Pierre Berbizier (born 17 June 1958) is a French former rugby union footballer and a current coach. His usual position was at scrum-half. He played 56 times for France. Biography Berbizier was born in Saint-Gaudens. He made his international deb ...

as French head coach after the

1995 Rugby World Cup The 1995 Rugby World Cup was the third Rugby World Cup. It was hosted and won by South Africa, and was the first Rugby World Cup in which every match was held in one country. The World Cup was the first major sporting event to take place in Sou ...

. He became the first European head coach to win on his first attempt against , but he failed to win against and like his predecessor

. France suffered a few defeats against lowest level teams, like in 1999 or like in 1997 (Italy was making a lot of progress at this stage), but was also able to make great come backs, like against in 1997 or against in their World Cup semi final at Twickenham. He also made a back-to-back

in 1997 and 1998. He suffered a lack of results in 1999 before the World Cup. After

Jacques Fouroux Jacques Fouroux (24 July 1947 – 17 December 2005) was a French rugby union player and coach. He captained France when they won the Grand Slam in 1977, and was the manager when the side repeated the feat in 1981 and 1987. Player Fouroux, who pl ...

, he became the second head coach to lead France to the World Cup Final, but lost to Australia. He resigned as French head coach on 16 November 1999.Rugby. L'entraîneur du XV de France quitte ses fonctions.Jean-Claude Skrela choisit d'en rester là
- Libération, 17 November 1999

International matches as Head coach

Record by country

Honours

** Winner

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

Rugby World Cup The Rugby World Cup is a men's rugby union tournament contested every four years between the top international teams. The tournament is administered by World Rugby, the sport's international governing body. The winners are awarded the Webb E ...

** Runner-up

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

Latin Cup The Latin Cup was an international football tournament for club sides from the Southwest European nations of France, Italy, Spain, and Portugal. In 1949 the football federations came together and requested FIFA to launch the competition. Europ ...

** Winner 1995, 1997 *

Trophée des Bicentenaires To celebrate the bi-centenaries of the First Fleet and of the French Revolution, in 1988 and 1989 respectively, the French Rugby Union donated the Trophée des Bicentenaires (, "Trophy of the Bicentenaries") to be played in perpetuity between th ...

** Runner-up 1997, 1998

Other honours

As a player

France *

** Winner

1973 Events January * January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 15 – Vietnam War: Citing progress in peace negotiations, U.S. ...

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democratic R ...

** Runner-up

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd go ...

Stade toulousain * France Rugby Union Championship ** Runner-up

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning System time epoch begins at 00:00 UTC. * January 9 – ...

Challenge Yves du Manoir The Challenge Yves du Manoir was a rugby union club competition that was played in France between 1931 and 2003 under different names. It is named after former player Yves du Manoir. History The Challenge Yves du Manoir was officially created on S ...

** Runner-up 1971

As a coach

Stade toulousain * France Rugby Union Championship ** Winner

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal ente ...

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress Street Viaduct, Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxo ...

** Runner-up

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phil ...

** Winner 1988 ** Runner-up 1984

References

External links

ESPN Scrum Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Skrela, jean-Claude 1949 births Living people French people of Polish descent French rugby union players French rugby union coaches Barbarian F.C. players Stade Toulousain players France international rugby union players Stade Toulousain coaches France national rugby union team coaches Rugby union flankers Sportspeople from Haute-Garonne