Michel Crauste (6 July 1934 – 2 May 2019) was a French international

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 ...

player. He played as a flanker and number eight for Racing Club de France and

FC Lourdes FC Lourdais is a French rugby union club from Lourdes currently competing in the French league system. Formed in 1911, they have won the French league eight times and the French cup six times. They play in the Stade Antoine-Beguere and traditiona ...

. Crauste was born in

Saint-Laurent-de-Gosse Saint-Laurent-de-Gosse (; oc, Sent Laurenç de Gòssa) is a commune in the Landes department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France. Population See also *Communes of the Landes department The following is a list of the 327 communes o ...

, France. He earned his first cap with the French national team on 19 May 1957 against

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north o ...

. He also captained the second French side to beat the

Springboks The South Africa national rugby union team, commonly known as the Springboks (colloquially the Boks, Bokke or Amabokoboko), is the country's national team governed by the South African Rugby Union. The Springboks play in green and gold jersey ...

in South Africa and was elected France's Player of the Year in 1961. He was also the first French international player to score three tries in one

test match Test match in some sports refers to a sporting contest between national representative teams and may refer to: * Test cricket * Test match (indoor cricket) * Test match (rugby union) * Test match (rugby league) * Test match (association football) ...

. Crauste died, aged 84, in Pau, France.

Honours

* Selected to represent France, 1957–1966 * French rugby champion 1959 with Racing Club de France, 1960 and 1968 with

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 ...

1959 to 1963 *

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 ...

1966 and 1967

External links

Michel Crauste International Statistics
{{DEFAULTSORT:Crauste, Michel French rugby union players France international rugby union players 1934 births Rugby union flankers Rugby union number eights 2019 deaths Racing 92 players People from Dax, Landes Sportspeople from Landes (department) FC Lourdes players