With André Boniface, inseparable from his little brother Guy, who died at the age of 30, it is a legendary brotherhood of French rugby which dies, a duo of centers which made the great times of Mont-de-Marsan and the Blues, in the “Boni” time of the 1960s.
Inseparable, André and Guy Boniface were “twins in the city” And “Siamese on the ground“, wrote their accomplice, the writer Antoine Blondin, until Guy’s fatal road accident in the early hours of 1968, an unfortunate January 1st on a road in the Landes.”The only scar in my life“, sighed in 2016, in the columns of The TeamAndré, died Monday at age 89.
A champion’s track record, but above all “French Flair”
Born on August 14, 1934, he enjoyed a successful life with the XV of France and his club (almost) always Mont-de-Marsan, winning 4 Five Nations Tournaments (1954, 1955, 1959 and 1962), in 48 selections from a turbulent history with the blue jersey, and the only Brennus Shield of the Stade Montois (1963).
So much for the figures, which are eloquent. But even more, as aesthetes, the Boniface brothers embodied a certain idea of the (beautiful) game, an inventiveness of all devils, an ode to freedom of movement. In two words, “French flair”, an expression coming from England, a rare occurrence, a bit envious, in the sixties, in the last hours of the amateurism of the French XV.
And a loyalty to the yellow and black jersey of Mont-de-Marsan, which André, the eldest, joined after only a few matches played with Dax and which the “Boni” will hoist to the grail: the only Shield in 1963 , facing… neighboring enemy Dacquois, after two finals lost in 1953 and 1959.
“What we were looking for was line playdeciphered the eldest Boniface in Le Monde in 1999. Before getting to this point, a huge amount of work was required. Style came only from work, not from chance. The pass, for example, was a daily concern, like the pianist’s scales.”
“We sometimes spent hours doing and redoing movements, combinations on a corner of the table with glasses, salt shakers, whatever came to hand.“, said the man who was part of the first French team to win the All Blacks (3-0) in 1954. Despite their aura, the pair of centers, André the No. 12 and Guy the No. 13, will be little associated in French team. Not even twenty matches played together (17).
The case of the “Boni” then divides the oval. Little appreciated by the leaders of French rugby, André and Guy, have their support in the press with Denis Lalanne and therefore Antoine Blondin for whom “the association of these two brothers seems to come from mythology“. And their stormy history with the XV of France reached its epilogue in 1966, after a 9-8 defeat against Wales which deprived the Blues of a victory in the Tournament, the first that the two brothers.
A bell pass from Jean Gachassin, intended for André, was intercepted by Welshman Stuart Watkins who then raced to the goal. Enough to knock out the French who were leading 8-6 a few minutes from the end of the match – a try was then worth three points. “Firing three players after an intercepted pass is unique. In fact, it had nothing to do with the pass“, lamented, bitterly, André Boniface in the Team in 2016. “The selectors were fed up with us. They couldn’t stand us anymore. My appearance, my personality bothered them a lot. My outspokenness too.“