Ray French
Encyclopedia
Raymond James French MBE
(born 1939) is a former rugby union
and rugby league
player who achieved the rare honour of representing his country (England) at international level in both codes of the game. French won his four caps for the England national rugby union team
in 1961 as a lock forward, playing in all four matches of the 1961 Five Nations Championship
. After switching to rugby league as a , French enjoyed a spell at his home town club, St Helens, but also enjoyed a successful spell at Widnes
which he remembers fondly.
After training as a school teacher, he taught at Cowley School
in St Helens, Lancashire
, where his local counterparts included Brian Ashton
who taught at Stonyhurst College
.
As well as continuing to coach rugby, French became a well known commentator on rugby league on both television and radio. He commentated for the BBC
on every Challenge Cup
final between 1982 and 2008. He is well known for his range of colloquialism
s. French is regularly heard on the Rugby League show Try Time each Thursday on BBC Radio Merseyside
giving his views on the state of the game in his forthright way.
Also President of the St Helens Past Players' Association
French was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2011 New Year Honours for services to rugby league.
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(born 1939) is a former rugby union
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
and rugby league
Rugby league
Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...
player who achieved the rare honour of representing his country (England) at international level in both codes of the game. French won his four caps for the England national rugby union team
England national rugby union team
The England national rugby union team represents England in rugby union. They compete in the annual Six Nations Championship with France, Ireland, Scotland, Italy, and Wales. They have won this championship on 26 occasions, 12 times winning the Grand Slam, making them the most successful team in...
in 1961 as a lock forward, playing in all four matches of the 1961 Five Nations Championship
1961 Five Nations Championship
The 1961 Five Nations Championship was the thirty-second series of the rugby union Five Nations Championship. Including the previous incarnations as the Home Nations and Five Nations, this was the sixty-seventh series of the northern hemisphere rugby union championship. Ten matches were played...
. After switching to rugby league as a , French enjoyed a spell at his home town club, St Helens, but also enjoyed a successful spell at Widnes
Widnes Vikings
Widnes Vikings RLFC are an English professional rugby league club based in Widnes, Cheshire. They currently play in the Engage Super League, the top tier of European rugby league, after being awarded a license to compete in the top-flight Super League from 2012 onward...
which he remembers fondly.
After training as a school teacher, he taught at Cowley School
Cowley Language College
Cowley International College, formely Cowley Language College, is an 11-18 college situated on Cowley Hill, in Windle, St Helens, Merseyside.-Admissions:...
in St Helens, Lancashire
St Helens, Merseyside
St Helens is a large town in Merseyside, England. It is the largest settlement and administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of St Helens with a population of just over 100,000, part of an urban area with a total population of 176,843 at the time of the 2001 Census...
, where his local counterparts included Brian Ashton
Brian Ashton (rugby player)
William Brian Ashton MBE is a former rugby union player and the former Head Coach of the England and Ireland national rugby union teams.-Biography:...
who taught at Stonyhurst College
Stonyhurst College
Stonyhurst College is a Roman Catholic independent school, adhering to the Jesuit tradition. It is located on the Stonyhurst Estate near the village of Hurst Green in the Ribble Valley area of Lancashire, England, and occupies a Grade I listed building...
.
As well as continuing to coach rugby, French became a well known commentator on rugby league on both television and radio. He commentated for the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
on every Challenge Cup
Challenge Cup
The Challenge Cup is a knockout cup competition for rugby league clubs organised by the Rugby Football League. Originally it was contested only by British teams but in recent years has been expanded to allow teams from France and Russia to take part....
final between 1982 and 2008. He is well known for his range of colloquialism
Colloquialism
A colloquialism is a word or phrase that is common in everyday, unconstrained conversation rather than in formal speech, academic writing, or paralinguistics. Dictionaries often display colloquial words and phrases with the abbreviation colloq. as an identifier...
s. French is regularly heard on the Rugby League show Try Time each Thursday on BBC Radio Merseyside
BBC Radio Merseyside
BBC Radio Merseyside is the BBC Local Radio service for the English metropolitan county of Merseyside and north Cheshire. It was the third BBC local radio station to launch on 22 November 1967 initially serving the south west of historic Lancashire....
giving his views on the state of the game in his forthright way.
Also President of the St Helens Past Players' Association
French was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2011 New Year Honours for services to rugby league.
Famous quotes
- "Every time we come to HeadingleyHeadingleyHeadingley is a suburb of Leeds in West Yorkshire, England. It is approximately two miles out of the city centre, to the north west along the A660 road...
there is a dog on the pitch. Why oh why people bring dogs to Rugby games, I'll never know!"
- "He's a big lad, He's a strong lad!"
- "Well, Vince KaraliusVince KaraliusVincent Peter Patrick Karalius was an English professional Rugby League World Cup winning and coach who forged a fearsome reputation both as a strong runner of the ball, and as a devastating tackler.-Club career:...
once said to me that the only good Aussie is a dead Aussie!"
- "This lad's got boots like carpet slippers"
- "And if this man doesn't get man-of-the-match today then I've misjudged my judgement of Rugby League"
- "And if you take a closer look AlexAlex Murphy (rugby league)Alex J. Murphy OBE is an English former professional rugby league footballer and coach of the mid to late 20th century...
, Rick Thackeray has gorra tremendous gash.... just above his 'ead."
- "And there we see the sad sight of Martin OffiahMartin OffiahMartin Offiah MBE is an English former rugby league and rugby union footballer.He is known as "Chariots" Offiah after the film Chariots of Fire...
limping off with a broken finger."
- "Well, these kicking tees get stranger by the minute. I was up in HumbersideHumbersideHumberside was a non-metropolitan and ceremonial county in Northern England from 1 April 1974 until 1 April 1996. It was composed of land from either side of the Humber Estuary, created from portions of the East and West ridings of Yorkshire and parts of Lindsey, Lincolnshire...
the other day, and there was a lad using one which looked like a traffic cone off the M62M62M62 or M-62 may refer to:* M62 motorway, a motorway in England.* M-62 , a state highway in Michigan.* M62 locomotive, a Soviet heavy freight diesel locomotive.* BMW M62, a 1994 automobile engine....
!!"
- "Well Joe, in today's game it's all about pasta and enzymes, when I played we only had a segment of orange".
- "Can he go all the way?"
- "He's a little lad but he's got a big heart"
- "And he's got the icepack on his groin there, so possibly not the old shoulder injury."
- "And suddenly...!"
- "There's the hooter!"
- "And these superb pictures brought to us on this three-hundred and six-teeeee five degree camera...."
- "He's going for the line!!"