This Wednesday morning, a municipal employee of Larrivière-Saint-Savin, in the Landes, takes care, with a broom in hand, of clearing the slightly dusty corners of the little Notre-Dame du rugby chapel. “We are adding candles every two days at the moment,” he comments, also noting a larger crowd than normal. The surroundings of the site were mowed and cleared and the small building was the subject of beautification work a few months ago, in anticipation of the Rugby World Cup, from September 8 to October 28. It is particularly gleaming for the occasion and it is not a miracle. The city does not skimp on its maintenance because it is one of the architectural pearls of its territory.
Buses chartered for the World Cup
Around 15,000 visitors, according to estimates from the Landes tourist office, come each year to tread the cobblestones of the chapel to discover the stained glass windows mixing the Virgin Mary with rugby scenes. There should be a few more curious people this year, thanks to the World Cup. Buses will be specially chartered by the Landes Tourist Office to allow those who wish to come and visit the building, located approximately two hours’ drive from Bordeaux. The Friends of Notre Dame du Rugby association will offer on-site visits. Its president, Michel Réchède, still very active in the local club US Grenade, created in 1966, is knowledgeable about the atypical history of this building, recognized by the Rugby federation.
“Here we honor the missing and the seriously injured in rugby, it’s a place of contemplation,” he explains. The old ruined church was completely restored in 1963, in memory of three young rugby players from the region, who lost their lives in a road accident in Dax that year. Upset by the tragedy, Father Devert, who had them as students, and the mayor at the time, undertook the renovation of what remained of the sacristy, in their memory. It will be completed in 1964. On request, masses can be organized but this is quite rare. “A Basque team wanted to hold a mass after a bereavement in the club,” says the president of the association. They had worn the jersey of the deceased, it was the former president. »
“My daughter got married here!” »
“There are baptisms, weddings, my daughter got married here,” he slips. And, an annual pilgrimage, for Pentecost Monday, attracts 300 to 400 people, coming from all over France,” explains Michel Réchède to Josée and Jean, a couple of Bretons in their sixties who took advantage of their stay in Condom to discover the places. “We were in the area, so we wanted to see,” they say. We’re going to watch all the World Cup matches, we really like rugby, we’re not into football at all.”
They admire the four stained glass windows made by a former captain of the Montois stadium which stand out against the bright white walls and the jerseys in the window, hung around the perimeter of the chapel. There you can discover the jerseys of Benoît Dauga, French international and Georges Magendie, pillar of the Racing Club de France rugby team but also many anonymous people, mainly from the South-West. A few small benches are positioned in front of the altar, on which visitors leave jerseys, or write words in the chapel’s “goldbook”.
Rugby figures such as Serge Blanco, a French international who became a sports manager and businessman, and Philippe Sella, a French international player playing at three-quarter center, were for example invited to come and “commune” in this place dedicated to rugby. Overwhelmed by donations of jerseys and various documents, the association opened an exhibition room very close to the chapel around ten years ago, where 450 jerseys are displayed. She is already planning to expand it.
The chapel is open to everyone, believers of all religions and non-believers, emphasizes Michel Réchède, who sees it above all as a place of conviviality. A replica of Notre Dame du rugby was built in Argentina but for Michel Rechede, it is a “pale copy”. Would claiming that such a chapel could relocate from the South-West amount to rugby heresy?