His career is intertwined with the history of his sport. Former president of the French (FFR) and international rugby federations, Bernard Lapasset died on Tuesday May 2, at the age of 75, following a long illness. It is not on the pitch that Bernard Lapasset will have marked rugby the most. Born in Tarbes on October 20, 1947, the former second line trained in Bègles (Gironde), then in Agen, according to the transfers of his father, a customs officer. Under the colors of the local club, SU Agen, he won the French junior championship in 1967.
Having made a career in the customs administration – he played for the US Customs Paris – he gradually climbed the ladder of rugby, multiplying the hats of president. Clubs first. Then from the Ile-de-France Committee. In 1991, unexpectedly, Bernard Lapasset, then secretary general of the FFR, became president of the body, after an election that highlighted the divisions of the tricolor Ovalie.
The 43-year-old former player succeeds the historic Albert Ferrasse. He will remain in place until 2008, when he reaches the ultimate level by taking the head of the International Rugby Board (IRB, today World Rugby), the international federation.
In retreat, behind Mandela
For twenty-four years (sixteen at the FFR and eight at the IRB), the one who liked to take on responsibilities spawned in the highest echelons of rugby. It was he who undertook the installation of the FFR in a “big house of Ovalie”, which became, in 2001, the National Rugby Center of Marcoussis (Essonne), and strove to widen the sphere of influence of its sport in France, long confined to a large South-West.
It was also he who, then assuming the rotating presidency of the IRB (in 1995 and 1996), handed the World Cup trophy to Nelson Mandela in June 1995, before the South African president wearing the very symbolic Springbok jersey handed over to the captain of the national team, François Pienaar. A gesture embodying the reconciliation of the Rainbow Nation.
“The protocol wanted me to present the trophy to the winning captain of the competitionreported Bernard Lapasset, in 2013. But when I found myself on the podium with this trophy in my hands, the decision came to me immediately. The World Cup had to be given to Nelson Mandela and he himself had to give it to his captain. It was not possible otherwise. » In the photo that entered the history books, his hand appears, indented, behind Mandela.
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