Rugby union at the 1900 Summer Olympics was played in Paris.The IOC and most Olympic history organizations refer to the sport played at the 1900 Summer Olympics simply as "rugby", though it was a form of rugby union.

Rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

matches at the 1900 Summer Olympics were held on 14 October and 28 October. Forty-seven athletes competed, most from three nations and including a Haitian and a French-born American.

Summary

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

, represented by Union des Sociétés Françaises,

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, represented mainly by the FC 1880 Frankfurt, and

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...

, represented by the Moseley Wanderers, all participated in the inaugural rugby event at the Olympics. Only two games were contested, France played both Germany and Great Britain, the French winning both matches. This saw the gold go to France, and both Germany and Great Britain are credited with silver, with no bronze awarded. For medal purposes, the IOC regards the side from France as a " Mixed Team", as

Constantin Henriquez Constantin Henriquez was a Haitian-born French rugby union footballer. He played as number eight, wing and centre. Henriquez was the first known black athlete to compete in the Olympic Games, and the first to become an Olympic gold medallist, ...

was from Haiti. Further,

André Roosevelt Cornelius Louis André Roosevelt (April 24, 1879 – July 21, 1962) was a French-born American filmmaker and resort hotel manager of American origin. He was born in Paris to Cornelius Roosevelt (1847–1902), a cousin of U.S. President Theo ...

, an American born in France, was also on the French team.

Results

Match 1

In the first half, France scored a try by

Émile Sarrade France was the host of the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris. France was one of many nations that had competed in the 1896 Summer Olympics in Greece and had returned to compete at the 1900 Games. Gold medals were not given out and silver medals wer ...

and a conversion. Germany scored tries by Heinrich Reitz and August Schmierer, with two conversions as well as a drop goal. Under the custom scoring rules of the Olympic tournament (3 points for tries or penalties, 2 points for conversions, 4 points for drop goals), this gave Germany a lead of 14–5. The second half was vastly different, as Serrade scored two more tries while

also scored two and Frantz Reichel and A. Albert added one each. Two more conversions were made, bringing France's score to a total of 27. Germany, on the other hand, scored only one try, by one of the Ludwigs.The scorer's name is listed as "Ludwig", but there were two Ludwigs playing for Germany. It is unclear if the scorer was Erich Ludwig or

Richard Ludwig Richard Ludwig (22 May 1877 – 10 August 1946) was a German rugby union player who competed in the 1900 Summer Olympics. He was a member of the German rugby union team, which won the silver medal. Germany was represented at the tournament b ...

. France thus won the match 27–17. ----

Match 2

The British team failed to score in the first half, while France continued the scoring barrage they had experienced in the second half of the Germany match. Sarrade scored two tries, bringing his tournament total to five. Joseph Olivier,

Jean Collas Jean Collas (3 July 1874 in Paris – 30 December 1928 in Asnières-sur-Seine, France) was a French rugby union player and tug of war competitor, who competed in the 1900 Summer Olympics The 1900 Summer Olympics (french: Jeux olympiques ...

, and

Jean-Guy Gauthier Henry Jean Guy Gauthier (30 December 1875 in Jarnac, Charente – 23 October 1938 in Cognac, Charente) was a French rugby union player who competed in the 1900 Summer Olympics The 1900 Summer Olympics (french: Jeux olympiques d'été de ...

each added a try. No conversions were scored, though André Rischmann's two penalties brought France's first-half total to 21. Britain actually outscored France in the second half, 8–6, but had little chance of catching up. Joseph Wallis scored a try while J. Henry Birtles made a conversion and a penalty for Britain. Reichel scored his second try of the tournament, and

Léon Binoche Léon Binoche (16 August 1878 – 28 August 1962) was a French rugby union player who competed in the 1900 Summer Olympics. He was a member of the French rugby union team, which won the gold medal. His great-niece is the actress Juliette Bi ...

added a try to bring France's victory to a 27–8 margin. A

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency was esta ...

report of the match noted that the British squad's loss may have been in part to fatigue, as the players arrived in Paris only on the morning of the match. A crowd of 10,000 fans witnessed the match.

Medal table

Rosters

France (Mixed Team)

Wladimir Aïtoff Wladimir is a masculine given name. It is an alternative spelling of the name Vladimir. Notable people with the name include: * Wladimir Brunet de Presle (1809–1875), French historian * Wladimir de Schoenefeld (1816–1875), German-French botan ...

* A. Albert *

* Auguste Giroux * Charles Gondouin *

(HAI) * Jean Hervé * Victor Larchandet * Hubert Lefèbvre * Joseph Olivier * Alexandre Pharamond * Frantz Reichel * André Rischmann *

(USA) * Emile Sarrade

Germany

Albert Amrhein Franz Albert Amrhein (29 December 1870 – 20 May 1945) was a German rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One o ...

* Hugo Betting * Jacob Herrmann * Willy Hofmeister * Hermann Kreuzer * Arnold Landvoigt * Hans Latscha * Erich Ludwig *

Fritz Müller Johann Friedrich Theodor Müller (31 March 1822 – 21 May 1897), better known as Fritz Müller, and also as Müller-Desterro, was a German biologist who emigrated to southern Brazil, where he lived in and near the German community of Blumenau, ...

* Eduard Poppe * Heinrich Reitz * August Schmierer * Adolf Stockhausen * Georg Wenderoth

Great Britain

* Frank Bayliss * Henry Birtles * James Cantion * Arthur Darby * Clement Deykin * L. Hood * M. L. Logan * Herbert Loveitt * Herbert Nicol * V. Smith * M. W. Talbot * Joseph Wallis * Claude Whittindale * Raymond Whittindale * Francis Wilson

Notes

References

International Olympic Committee
medal winners database * De Wael, Herman. ''Herman's Full Olympians'': "Rugby 1900". Accessed 2 March 2006. Available electronically a

*

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Olympics

1900 As of March 1 ( O.S. February 17), when the Julian calendar acknowledged a leap day and the Gregorian calendar did not, the Julian calendar fell one day further behind, bringing the difference to 13 days until February 28 ( O.S. February 15), 2 ...

Rugby union in Paris International rugby union competitions hosted by France 1900 rugby union tournaments for national teams 1899–1900 in French rugby union Men's events at the 1900 Summer Olympics