Max Rousié (18 July 1912 – 2 June 1959) was a French

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

and

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 its m ...

footballer who rose to prominence in the 1930s. He was a dual-code international, eventually becoming captain of the French rugby league team. He was born in

Marmande Marmande (; in Occitan language, Occitan, ''Marmanda'') is a Communes of France, commune in the Lot-et-Garonne ''Departments of France, département'' in south-western France. Geography Marmande is located 35 km north-west of Agen, on the ...

Lot-et-Garonne Lot-et-Garonne (, oc, Òlt e Garona) is a department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of Southwestern France. Named after the rivers Lot and Garonne, it had a population of 331,271 in 2019.car crash in 1959 in

Saint-Justin, Landes Saint-Justin (; oc, Sent Justin) is a commune in the Landes department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France. History In 1280, Constance Viscountess de Marsan signed an “acte de paréage” (a shared sovereignty agreement) with the Ord ...

Playing career

Rugby Union

Playing as scrum-half in rugby union (he also could play as fly-half, in the back row or also in the second or third row) for Club Athlétique Villeneuvois (CAV XV) and later, in league for Sport Athlétique Villeneuvois (SAV.13) between 1934 and 1936, later for RC Roanne XIII until the war and the suppression of rugby league. A powerful and fast player, he also was an excellent kicker. He started playing

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 its m ...

with CA Villeneuve and became one of the best players of his time, with four caps with the France national team between 1931 and 1933. In 1934, he is one of the rugby union personalities to join the new rugby code which took place in France le rugby à XIII,

. He is considered as one of the best players of this code imported by

Jean Galia Jean Galia (born 20 March 1905 in Ille-sur-Têt, Pyrénées-Orientales, died 17 January 1949 in Toulouse) was a French rugby union and rugby league footballer and champion boxer. He is credited with establishing the sport of rugby league in Fran ...

. Until the

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and the prohibition of rugby league, he is the most capped player for France, which under his captaincy, he led to its first European Nations Cup in 1939, along with François Noguères,

Maurice Brunetaud Maurice may refer to: People *Saint Maurice (died 287), Roman legionary and Christian martyr *Maurice (emperor) or Flavius Mauricius Tiberius Augustus (539–602), Byzantine emperor *Maurice (bishop of London) (died 1107), Lord Chancellor and Lo ...

and Joseph Desclaux. At club level, he first remains in

Villeneuve-sur-Lot Villeneuve-sur-Lot (; in the Languedocien dialect of Occitan language: ''Vilanuèva d'Òlt'' ) is a town and commune in the southwestern French department of Lot-et-Garonne. The commune was formerly named ''Villeneuve-d'Agen''. Villeneuve-sur-Lot ...

winning a French Championship title in 1935 along with Marius Guiral and Galia, later he joined

Roanne Roanne (; frp, Rouana; oc, Roana) is a commune in the Loire department, central France. It is located northwest of Lyon on the river Loire. It has an important Museum, the ''Musée des Beaux-arts et d'Archéologie Joseph-Déchelette'' (Fren ...

with the same success, a victory in the French Championship in 1939 alongside Jean Dauger, Henri Gibert and René Arotça.

Rugby League

In June 1934 (3 months after Galia's Boys tour in England), CAV XV switches codes from union to league (SAV.13) and in September 1934, he was appointed captain of the first tour of a French club beyond the Channel: SAV 13. Roanne - Villeneuve - Finale de Coupe de France 1938

Roanne - Villeneuve - Finale de Coupe de France 1938

During the 1937–38 Kangaroo tour Rousié captained

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

against the dominant visiting Australian side, playing at

five-eighth Five-eighth or Stand-off is one of the positions in a rugby league football team. Wearing jersey number 6, this player is one of the two half backs in a team, partnering the . Sometimes known as the pivot or second receiver, in a traditional a ...

in the first

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) ...

and at centre in the second, kicking one goal.

World War II

He was engaged in war as a gunner and was awarded the

Croix de Guerre The ''Croix de Guerre'' (, ''Cross of War'') is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was first awa ...

, later, once he was demobilized, he could not resume playing rugby league due to its prohibition by the Vichy Regime. He then played three seasons for Nice, competing in the Coupe de France in 1942 with the Provence Litoral representative team before ending his sporting career. Although he was sought by many clubs, he rejected the offers and made some training time for Paris XIII and Mazamet.

Post-playing career

Later, he worked in the oil site at

Hassi-Messaoud Hassi Messaoud ( ar, حاسي مسعود) is a town in Ouargla Province, eastern Algeria, located southeast of Ouargla. As of 2008 it had a population of 45,147 people, up from 40,360 in 1998, and an annual population growth rate of 1.1%, the lowe ...

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as well as physical education instructor and died due to a road accident on 2 June 1959 after commemorating with fellow former rugby league players the 25th anniversary of the birth of the sport in France. In his memory, the French rugby league federation, since 1960, named the trophy of the French Championship as "Bouclier Max-Rousié" ("The Max Rousié Shield").

Biography

Born on 14 July 1912 in

, his father, Jean-Louis Rousié, was a butcher in Villeneuve-sur-Lot and his mother was named Gabrielle Buchereau. He was 1,78 m high and weighed 83 kg.

Legacy

Max Rousié has been honoured by the following: *In 1988 he was inducted into the International

Rugby League Hall of Fame The Rugby League Hall of Fame honours the leading players of the sport of rugby league. It was established by the sport's governing body in the UK, the Rugby Football League, in 1988. Players must have been retired for at least five years to be ...

. *The Max Rousié Shield is awarded to the winner of the

French Rugby League Championship The French rugby league championship (french: Le Championnat de France de Rugby à XIII) has been the major rugby league tournament for semi-professional and professional clubs in France since the sport was introduced to the country in the 1930s. ...

. *Paris' Stade Max Rousié and Centre Sportif Max Rousié are named in his honour. *in

the avenue leading to the Stade de la Myre Mory carries his name.

Honours

Rugby union: * International (4 selections) in team of France (1931 to 1934). Rugby league: * Champion of France with the SAV.13 (1935) (1st championship), * Winner of the Coupe de France with the Roanne rugby league club (1938), * Champion of France with the Roanne rugby league club (1939), * Captain of the French team that won the 1938–39 European Rugby League Championship

References

External links

Profile at ''La Dépêche''
(in French) {{DEFAULTSORT:Rousie, Max 1912 births 1959 deaths 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 People from Marmande RC Roanne XIII players Sportspeople from Lot-et-Garonne Villeneuve Leopards players French Army personnel of World War II French Army soldiers