RUGBY - NEW ZEALAND national team

All Blacks shirt No. 23, exchanged with Edouard Ponsinet during the French national rugby league team’s victorious tour of Australia and New Zealand in 1951. This jersey was worn during the test match on 4 August 1951 at Carlaw Park, where New Zealand won 16–15. Provenance: The granddaughters of Édouard Ponsinet, the famous second-row forward for the French rugby league team, are selling the jerseys worn during the historic 1951 tour of Australia and New Zealand. This tour made rugby league history: it was the first time a French rugby league team had ventured into the southern hemisphere, and more broadly, the first time a French team, outside the Olympic Games, had been accompanied by a delegation of journalists on an overseas tour. “You won’t be disappointed, and you’ll be doing a good deed!” declared Paul Barrière, president of the French Rugby League Federation, in an effort to convince the Australians to welcome his “little roosters”. On their return, the French team was greeted by 150,000 people who had turned out to cheer the players on the streets of Marseille. Jacqueline Ponsinet, the eldest daughter of Édouard Ponsinet, has produced a book in tribute to her father, which compiles the letters he wrote to his family recounting the tour: Édouard Ponsinet recounts the 1951 heroic tour of the French rugby league team in Australia and New Zealand (published by Edilivre-Aparis, 2014). The first Test match against Australia on 11 June 1951 was filmed and commentated on; an extract can be found on YouTube via the following link: 1951 Rugby League Test 1 – Australia v France. The match attracted 60,000 spectators at the Sydney Cricket Ground and was won by France with a score of 26–15. The tour’s record 28 matches against local Australian and New Zealand teams: 21 wins, 3 draws, 4 defeats 4 Test matches against national teams: 3 against Australia (2 wins, 1 defeat), 1 against New Zealand (1 defeat) That makes a total of 23 wins from 32 matches played Jerseys available for sale French national team jersey: Worn by Édouard Ponsinet, nicknamed ‘Ponpon’, a second-row forward for the French national team during the tour (number 12). Born in 1923, he developed exceptional physical ability on the athletics track (he ran the 100 metres in 11.3 seconds). In 1943, he was French junior triathlon champion. That same year, he joined AS Carcassonne. He won the French championships five times and the French Cup four times during his eleven years playing for the club. New Zealand national team jersey: Worn during the test match on 4 August 1951 at Carlaw Park, where New Zealand won 16–15. Australian Western Division local team shirt: Worn during the match on 30 May 1951 in Forbes, which France won 26–24. Australian national team shirt: Worn during a Test match against Australia.

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