Puig Aubert (born Robert Aubert Puig, 24 March 1925 – 3 June 1994), is often considered the best 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 ...
footballer of all-time. Over a 16-year professional career he would play for
Carcassonne
Carcassonne (, also , , ; ; la, Carcaso) is a French fortified city in the department of Aude, in the region of Occitanie. It is the prefecture of the department.
Inhabited since the Neolithic, Carcassonne is located in the plain of the ...
,
XIII Catalan
XIII Catalan is a rugby league team from Perpignan in the Pyrénées-Orientales region of southern France. They were founded in 1934, and thus were founding members of the French rugby league championship. In 2000 their senior team merged with n ...
,
Celtic de Paris
Celtic de Paris were a French rugby league team from the city of Paris. The club played most games at La Cipale, Saint-Ouen, and occasionally at the Parc des Princes.
Maurice Tardy was the president of the club in the 1950s, signing star player ...
and
Castelnaudary
Castelnaudary (; oc, Castèlnòu d'Arri) is a commune in the Aude department in the Occitanie region of southern France. It is located in the former province of the Lauragais and famous for cassoulet of which it claims to be the world capital ...
winning five
French championships
The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ven ...
and four
French cups along with representing the
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 ...
on 46 occasions.
[Le monde du rugby XIII]
/ref> His position of choice was at and after his retirement in 1960 he would go on to coach Carcassonne and 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 ...
along with becoming head French national selector for several years.
Aubert was actually born Robert Aubert Puig, but when he signed as a teenager for Carcassonne
Carcassonne (, also , , ; ; la, Carcaso) is a French fortified city in the department of Aude, in the region of Occitanie. It is the prefecture of the department.
Inhabited since the Neolithic, Carcassonne is located in the plain of the ...
, there were several other established players that shared the same surname that a local newspaper editor printed his name back-to-front to avoid confusion and it ending up sticking and he became the most famous of them all.
His nickname "Pipette" was a reference to his smoking
Smoking is a practice in which a substance is burned and the resulting smoke is typically breathed in to be tasted and absorbed into the bloodstream. Most commonly, the substance used is the dried leaves of the tobacco plant, which have bee ...
habits, which at several stages saw him smoking on the field.[Puig Aubert France, Carcassonne Rugby League Heroes and Hardmen]
Quite famously in a game against Wigan
Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas, Lancashire, River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the nor ...
(which was played in a snowstorm), he actually caught the ball with one hand while holding a cigarette in the other hand. While he often had unusual habits for a sportsman, there was no denying his talent, he was a master at kicking in play and in overall attack he was both unorthodox and unpredictable. Aside from his playing skill, he developed a reputation based on his somewhat eccentric
Eccentricity or eccentric may refer to:
* Eccentricity (behavior), odd behavior on the part of a person, as opposed to being "normal"
Mathematics, science and technology Mathematics
* Off-center, in geometry
* Eccentricity (graph theory) of a v ...
attitude or charismatic manner. He was known to not tackle a player if he believed it would demonstrate the fault of his team-mates for not previously making the tackle, a cause of some controversy during his career.
The pinnacle of Aubert's career was on the 1951 tour of Australasia
Australasia is a region that comprises Australia, New Zealand and some neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term is used in a number of different contexts, including geopolitically, physiogeographically, philologically, and ecologica ...
, when he played in 25 of France's 29 matches, and scored a record 221 points. Puig-Aubert's performances in 1951 earned him his country's Champion of Champions title – the first time a footballer from any code had been so honoured.
In 1988 he was inducted into the 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 ...
.
Childhood and early career
Robert was born in Andernach
Andernach () is a town in the district of Mayen-Koblenz, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, of about 30,000 inhabitants. It is situated towards the end of the ''Neuwied basin'' on the left bank of the Rhine between the former tiny fishing village ...
, Germany to a German mother and a French father. The Puig family emigrated to Carcassonne
Carcassonne (, also , , ; ; la, Carcaso) is a French fortified city in the department of Aude, in the region of Occitanie. It is the prefecture of the department.
Inhabited since the Neolithic, Carcassonne is located in the plain of the ...
, France while Robert was still in his infancy, and it was there where Robert would carve out his immortality
Immortality is the concept of eternal life. Some modern species may possess biological immortality.
Some scientists, futurists, and philosophers have theorized about the immortality of the human body, with some suggesting that human immorta ...
in French sport and rugby.
Robert originally trialled with the USA Perpignan
Union Sportive Arlequins Perpignanais, also referred to as USA Perpignan or Perpignan, is a French professional rugby union club founded in 1933 and based in Perpignan, in the Pyrénées-Orientales department. They compete in the Top 14, Franc ...
side and was quickly signed by the club and placed into their junior ranks where in 1943 he helped Perpignan capture the junior French championship.
At the beginning of 1944 the Vichy government
Vichy France (french: Régime de Vichy; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was the fascist French state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II. Officially independent, but with half of its terr ...
would lose power meaning that the sport of 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 ...
was no longer outlawed in France and Robert ended his playing days of 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 ...
and decided to sign with his local club in rugby league AS Carcassonne
Association Sportive of Carcassonne are a semi-professional rugby league football club based in Carcassonne in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie in the south of France. They play in the French Elite One Championship and a ...
.
Carcassonne
Still a teenager Robert signed for Carcassonne at the beginning of the 1944 season in the newly re-established French 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.
...
now that rugby league was no longer an outlawed sport in France. Later on that year Puig was named in the starting 13 for a regular season fixture but with several other more established players in both sides with the last name Puig a local newspaper editor printed his name back-to-front to avoid confusion and since that day he was forever referred to as ''Puig Aubert''.
Over the next nine years with his home town club Aubert achieved immense success that would cement his place as a legend
A legend is a Folklore genre, genre of folklore that consists of a narrative featuring human actions, believed or perceived, both by teller and listeners, to have taken place in human history. Narratives in this genre may demonstrate human valu ...
of Carcassonne, rugby league and France while also earning his first national team
A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport.
The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exam ...
cap in 1944. He would go on to lead the club (more often than not as captain) to four French championship titles, four Lord Derby cups and runners-up in the championship on four occasions along with three runners-up medals in the Lord Derby cup.
Catalans
After a decade of success helping to lead Carcassonne to eight combined titles including two doubles in 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 ...
Aubert left the only professional club he had ever been a part of to move to the rival XIII Catalan
XIII Catalan is a rugby league team from Perpignan in the Pyrénées-Orientales region of southern France. They were founded in 1934, and thus were founding members of the French rugby league championship. In 2000 their senior team merged with n ...
club where he would captain
Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
them for the next four years. While at XIII Catalan
XIII Catalan is a rugby league team from Perpignan in the Pyrénées-Orientales region of southern France. They were founded in 1934, and thus were founding members of the French rugby league championship. In 2000 their senior team merged with n ...
his fitness became something of an issue, with his weight often fluctuating over the next several years combined with his still-constant chain smoking
Chain smoking is the practice of smoking several cigarettes in succession, sometimes using the ember of a finished cigarette to light the next. The term chain smoker often also refers to a person who smokes relatively constantly, though not ne ...
meaning he found competing in the ever professional championship competition harder as the years progressed.
During his time at the Catalanian organisation he would gain another French championship title in his final year with the club in 1957.
Celtic de Paris
With his footballing career beginning to wind down Aubert moved to the French capital and took up a position with lower division Celtic de Paris. Though his lack of enthusiasm for training began to have negative effects on his rugby league ability and his weight ballooned to over at one stage, which was around more than he weighed at the peak of his ability in the 1950s.
After a year spent in the capital with the Paris club Aubert longing to move back to the south of France decided not to renew another contract in the capital and left the club.
RC Castelnaudary
In 1959 Aubert signed for lower division side Castelnaudary
Castelnaudary (; oc, Castèlnòu d'Arri) is a commune in the Aude department in the Occitanie region of southern France. It is located in the former province of the Lauragais and famous for cassoulet of which it claims to be the world capital ...
but with his weight and fitness problems continuing to decline he was only limited to several appearances for the season before he altogether retired from competitive rugby league football at the age of 35 with the completion of the season.
France
Aubert made his international rugby league debut for the French national side at fullback during the 1944 season while on tour in Great Britain. He immediately achieved a cult following and status among rugby league fans and the sporting public for his unorthodox and unpredictable
Unpredictable may refer to:
Film and TV
* "Unpredictable" (''Eureka''), an episode of ''Eureka''
Music Albums
* ''Unpredictable'' (Classified album), 2000
* ''Unpredictable'' (Jamie Foxx album), 2005
* ''Unpredictable'' (Malik B. album), 2015 ...
play coupled his lax attitude towards defence (often saying it was not the fullbacks job to tackle; other times claiming he was punishing fellow players for missing a tackle before him) and his odd onfield antics such as often playing while smoking at the same time. During half time breaks he was known to drink up to three glasses of red wine, and after scoring tries would occasionally leave a small hand written poem behind the opposing team's goal line designed to castigate and infuriate them. Despite all of this he was universally recognised among the rugby league fraternity as somewhat of a genius
Genius is a characteristic of original and exceptional insight in the performance of some art or endeavor that surpasses expectations, sets new standards for future works, establishes better methods of operation, or remains outside the capabiliti ...
for his amazing kicking skill that he possessed in all of its forms.
In 1954 Aubert led his French side as captain into the inaugural World Cup
A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...
competition where he would score the first drop goal
A drop goal, field goal, or dropped goal is a method of scoring points in rugby union and rugby league and also, rarely, in American football and Canadian football.
A drop goal is scored by drop kicking the ball (dropping the ball and then kicki ...
and the first penalty goal in World Cup history while leading his team to a 22–13 victory over New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
at Paris' Parc des Princes
Parc des Princes () is an all-seater stadium, all-seater Association football, football stadium in Paris, France, in the south-west of the French capital, inside the 16th arrondissement of Paris, 16th arrondissement, near the Stade Jean-Bouin ...
on 30 October 1954. During the competition he would score 26 points and lead his team into the final against the British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
where they would narrowly lose by four points 16 to 12.
Aubert captained the 1951 French rugby league tour of Australia and New Zealand
The 1951 French rugby league tour of Australia and New Zealand was the first ever tour of Australasia by any French sports team in history. Puig Aubert captained the France national rugby league team who played 28 matches in total in both Austra ...
, Les Chanticleers first such tour. On tour Aubert led France to a 2–1 series victory over the Clive Churchill
Clive Bernard Churchill AM (21 January 1927 – 9 August 1985) was an Australian professional rugby league footballer and coach in the mid-20th century. An Australian international and New South Wales and Queensland interstate representative ...
captained Australians
Australians, colloquially known as Aussies, are the citizens, nationals and individuals associated with the country of Australia. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or ethno-cultural. For most Australians, several (or all) ...
with the two champion fullbacks thrilling the crowds with their play. Such was the French teams play during the tour that the three test series in Australia attracted an aggregate attendance of 162,169. The French however would lose their only test against New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
16–15 at Carlaw Park
Carlaw Park was a multi-purpose stadium in Parnell, New Zealand, Parnell, a central suburb of Auckland, New Zealand. It neighboured the Auckland Domain's Northern end. It was primarily used for rugby league and had a peak spectator capacity of aro ...
in Auckland
Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...
.
The height of his success was when he captained France on the 1951 tour of Australasia
Australasia is a region that comprises Australia, New Zealand and some neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term is used in a number of different contexts, including geopolitically, physiogeographically, philologically, and ecologica ...
. They won the Test series against 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 ...
with Aubert kicking 18 goals from 18 attempts, a record never since topped by any tourist. The opposition halfback in that series Keith Holman
Keith Victor Holman, MBE (11 September 1927 – 11 October 2011) was an Australian Rugby League footballer, a national and state representative whose club career was played with Western Suburbs from 1949 to 1961.
He has since been name ...
would go on to state ''"I've never seen his equal, A terrific player and a terrific gentleman. As a goalkicker he had no equal – and no one since can compare. One day at practice on the Sydney Cricket Ground I saw him do something I've never before or since. He placed the ball where the corner post usually stands and with a remarkable kick curved it around between the goalposts for a `goal'"''.
During that tour Puig Aubert played in 25 of France's 29 matches, and scored a record 221 points (with 163 in Australia), outdoing the efforts of the British great Jim Sullivan. His performances during 1951 earned him the Champion of Champions title awarded by the French sporting newspaper L'Equipe making him the first time a footballer from any code had been so honoured.
Over a span of 10 years in the international
International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations".
International may also refer to:
Music Albums
* ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011
* ''International'' (New Order album), 2002
* ''International'' (The T ...
game Aubert would make 46 appearances for the national side scoring a total of 361 collective points in his 27 test matches, four World Cup appearances and 15 European cup
The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...
caps including two victorious tournament campaigns.
Career playing statistics
Point scoring summary
Matches played
Life after rugby league
After his retirement from the game professionally at the end of the 1960 season Aubert worked simultaneously as a commercial employee for the Paul Ricard company while also ironically acting as a trainer for AS Carcassonne
Association Sportive of Carcassonne are a semi-professional rugby league football club based in Carcassonne in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie in the south of France. They play in the French Elite One Championship and a ...
working with the junior level teams. In 1969 Aubert was selected to lead the French national team selection committee a position he held for the next decade.
As the years passed Auberts habit of chain smoking would eventually catch up with him and in the late 1980s he was diagnosed with cancer in his lung
The lungs are the primary organs of the respiratory system in humans and most other animals, including some snails and a small number of fish. In mammals and most other vertebrates, two lungs are located near the backbone on either side of t ...
s. Puig would later die of a heart attack in his home town of Carcassonne
Carcassonne (, also , , ; ; la, Carcaso) is a French fortified city in the department of Aude, in the region of Occitanie. It is the prefecture of the department.
Inhabited since the Neolithic, Carcassonne is located in the plain of the ...
on 3 June 1994.
Six years after his death his original club commissioned a , bronze statue in his honor outside the AS Carcassonne
Association Sportive of Carcassonne are a semi-professional rugby league football club based in Carcassonne in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie in the south of France. They play in the French Elite One Championship and a ...
club ground Stade Albert Domec
Stade Albert Domec is a multi-use municipal stadium in Carcassonne, France. It has a capacity of 10,000 spectators. It is the home ground of Pro D2 rugby union club Union Sportive Carcassonnaise and Elite One Championship rugby league club Assoc ...
. A commemorative plaque
A commemorative plaque, or simply plaque, or in other places referred to as a historical marker, historic marker, or historic plaque, is a plate of metal, ceramic, stone, wood, or other material, typically attached to a wall, stone, or other ...
was fastened to the statue reading: "''With Puig-Aubert, symbol of rugby à XIII (Rugby League); Champion of the world in the tricolour shirt; Champion of the French champions for the year 1951''".Pages Persos Chez.com
/ref>
In 2004, Bernard Pratviel devoted the book ''Immortal Pipette'' to him.
Footnotes
External links
Puig Aubert player profile
Puig Aubert at southstander.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aubert, Puig
1925 births
1994 deaths
AS Carcassonne coaches
AS Carcassonne players
Celtic de Paris players
France national rugby league team captains
France national rugby league team coaches
France national rugby league team players
French people of German descent
French rugby league coaches
French rugby league players
People from Andernach
Rugby league fullbacks
XIII Catalan players
People from Carcassonne
Sportspeople from Aude