'Fred was a comedy of errors' but loves the RWC 1987 final in Jarnac

Overnighting in Chinon

The fall into the Charente River did leave Fred with cracked ribs and a lot of discomfort!

He stoically continued the holiday though, managing the boat, navigating the locks, cycling, canoeing, climbing trees for cherries and more importantly finding pubs to watch rugby, it was June and the first Rugby World Cup was underway.

He watched the 1987 RWC Final on the 20 June in Jarnac in the southwest of France. He had meet some  'new' rugby mates at a bar, and they invited him to join them at the Courvoisier head office to watch the game.

France was beaten by New Zealand.

The event was such a highlight for Fred, I stayed on the boat with the littley's and he went off to watch the rugby.

He still talks about the game, being with a French crowd, all the hype and excitement but ultimately their team was beaten by the New Zealand All Blacks, 29-9.

I remember too, he was hoarse from all the yelling, rather hang-over but he just bubbled with rugby stories. He still avidly follows the RWC, we travelled to New Zealand in 2011 to watch rugby and he is already anticipating and talking about the RWC this year in the UK.




A little bit of history:

"Although international rugby has been played for well over a century, the Rugby World Cup is a relatively recent phenomenon. The first tournament took place in May and June 1987, with games played in both New Zealand and Australia. The final was held at Eden Park, Auckland, on 20 June, where the home team beat France to become the inaugural holders of the Webb Ellis Cup."