# Joseph Carrère

Joseph Carrère, born on February 14, 1904, in Sigean (Aude) and died on October 19, 1954, in Mably (Loire), was a rugby union and rugby league player, and a French international for the latter, playing as scrum-half or third row in the 1920s and 1930s.
Joseph Carrère played for many seasons with R.C. Narbonne, where he proved to be one of the best scrum-halves in France, reaching the semi-finals of the French Championship in 1925 against future champions U.S. Perpignan. Urgently called up to the French rugby union team in 1928 to face Ireland, he was unable to honor his selection due to a delay in transport to the squad's pre-departure meeting in Belfast. In 1930, he took part in the birth of U.S. Narbonne, which joined the Union française de rugby amateur and merged with R.C. Narbonne in 1932. However, the French Rugby Federation (F.F.R. by its acronym in French) in XV decided to ban Carrère, like Robert Samatan, Richard Majérus, and Charles Bigot, when he applied for a transfer between the two Narbonne clubs. It took J. Carrère over a year to learn the reason for his disbarment, which was pretexted by a link with a refereeing case, but he understood that one of the members of the Federation's Disciplinary Committee, a Stade Toulousain manager, wanted to take revenge for not signing for his club in 1932.
When the neo-code of rugby arrived, rugby à XIII, imported by Jean Galia, Carrère was one of the first players to join this movement, denouncing the amateurism of brown rugby in XV, and he took part in the Pionniers tour in March 1934. One of the stars of the French Rugby XIII Championship, he spent four seasons with R.C. Roanne, winning the Coupe de France in 1938, before returning to R.C. Narbonne in 1938, a club that had just joined XIII Rugby. World War II broke out and XIII Rugby was quickly banned, putting an end to his sporting career.

## Biography
### Youth and beginnings in XV rugby in Aude

Joseph Albert Carrère was born on February 14, 1904, in Sigean. His father, Frédéric Carrère (born April 27, 1877, in Sigean, died October 20, 1948, in Port-la-Nouvelle), was a farmer, and his mother, Thérézine Abellano (born October 17, 1882 in Durban-Corbières, died January 5, 1947, in Port-la-Nouvelle), had no occupation. He married Jeanne Roussoux on November 5, 1923, at the Sigean town hall. He had a brother, Auguste (1906-?), and two sisters, Paule (1908-1985) and Ivette (1920-2013). In civilian life, Joseph Carrère works as a garage mechanic. He played his first years of rugby with R.C. Narbonne.

### 1924-1930: A key player for R.C. Narbonne
#### 1924-1926: A versatile and successful player

Born in Sigean, Joseph Carrère trained with R.C. Narbonne, a club located in the neighboring town of Narbonne. In the 1924-1925 season, he joined the club's second team before being given a chance at scrum-half due to the injury of the incumbent Lafont. He played alongside François Clauzel and Aimé Cassayet-Armagnac, among others, and the Narbonne team came very close to qualifying for their Championship final but were defeated in the semi-final by the eventual winners, Roger Ramis' U.S. Perpignan 13-5, J. Carrère having, according to the leading sports daily l'Auto, “proved equal to the task”.
Joseph Carrère became a regular player with R.C. Narbonne from the 1925-1926 season, where he alternated between scrum-half and third-row center. R.C. Narbonne became a title contender every season. In the 1925-1926 season, they eliminated C.A. Brive and Stade Châteaurenardais in the pool of three but were eliminated in the quarter-final pool by Aviron Bayonnais. J. Carrère makes a name for himself and is selected as scrum-half at the end of the season for the Languedoc committee team which plays against the Paris selection.
J. Carrère's talent led to offers from other clubs during the 1926 off-season, to the extent that he was rumored to be heading for U.S. Perpignan (runners-up in the French Championship), but he remained with R.C. Narbonne, strengthened by the arrival of Joseph Pascot and a remarkable sporting partnership, where he put in some fine performances. The Narbonne club emerged from the five-team pool ahead of U.S. Montauban and Aviron Bayonnais, and beat F.C. Lourdes in the play-off, with only U.S. Cognac ahead of them, although this did not prevent them from continuing their Championship run. In the four-team pool, however, R.C. Narbonne was eliminated 10-8 by Stade Français, preventing it from reaching the semi-finals of the Championship.

#### 1927-1928: Misadventure on the doorstep of the French team

During the 1927-1928 season, Joseph Carrère's name was called by the sporting press and the Languedoc committee to give him a chance in the French team. A benchmark third-row player, he also had the advantage of being able to play as a scrum-half. He was called up to the end-of-year pre-selection meetings in Cognac for the French national team, tested in the scrum-half position and is now on the list of replacements for this season in the event of the scrum-half's defection. At the end of January 1928, Clément Dupont (F.C. Lourdes), France's usual starting scrum-half, withdrew from the team, and Georges Daudignon (Stade français) was about to undergo surgery and was unable to take part in the match against Ireland in the Five Nations Tournament; the French Rugby XV Federation decided to call up Joseph Carrère as a matter of urgency to line up at scrum-half. A telegram was sent to Narbonne asking J. Carrère to join the French team in Paris before departing for Belfast. Taking the first train from Narbonne to Lyon, he was delayed in his journey for over five hours and arrived at the Federation too late to join the French team, which had left for London before heading for Ireland.
In the Championship, R.C. Narbonne was quickly eliminated. Although ahead of C.S. Palmiers and Stadoceste Tarbais in the five-team pool, they faced R.C. Toulon in the play-off. They lost the match 15-0 and were unable to progress to the next phase of the four-team pool.

#### 1928–1930: Pushed towards the exit

In September 1928, he began his fifth season with R.C. Narbonne. Although he performed well at the start of the season, he suffered a scare in the match against A.S. Béziers on December 9, 1928. Fifteen minutes from the end of a scoreless game, Joseph Carrère received a blow and lay unconscious on the pitch. His brother, a team-mate, and all the players gave him first aid, while the crowd invaded the field. Although he regained his senses, the referee and the directors of both clubs decided to end the match immediately and postpone it to another date. In January 1929, he was back on the pitch as a key player for R.C. Narbonne. In a five-team pool made up of U.S. Dax, U.A Libourne, U.S.A. Limoges and U.S. Fumel, the club managed to qualify for the next phase, known as the "three-team pool". Facing R.C. Toulon and Stade Toulousain, R.C. Narbonne was eliminated after failing to qualify for the quarter-finals.
The following season, 1929-1930, R.C. Narbonne renewed a large part of its squad, with Joseph Carrère, Joseph Choy, Esquine, and Canguilhem representing the older players. J. Carrère occupied various positions such as center, without any real success, before returning to the positions of scrum-half or third row. The club qualified from a five-team pool comprising Aviron Bayonnais, Stade Bordelais, F.C. Grenoble, and Toulouse O.E.C. In the three-team pool, the Audon-based club was dominated by Stadoceste Tarbais and failed to qualify for the quarter-finals.

### 1930-1932: Departure for U.S. Narbonne and the French Amateur Rugby Union

In August 1930, Joseph Carrère joined Narbonne's other local club, U.S. Narbonne. In September 1930, the club, led by former F.C. Lézignan player Louis Bès, joined the Union française de rugby amateur, a sports organization grouping together several dissident XV rugby clubs, previously members of the French Rugby Federation in XV. J. Carrère shone under his new colors, as he did against Maurice Porra's F.C. Lyon and tried his hand at full-back. In December, twelve members of the U.F.R.A. resigned from the French Rugby XV Federation, confirming that they would not be taking part in the French Championship and launching the Tournoi des Douze at the same time. U.S. Narbonne, absent from the Tournoi des Douze, thus played a season of friendly matches against these twelve teams. In February 1931, Joseph Carrère put in some fine performances, representing the U.F.R.A.'s North-East selection in a propaganda match against a South-Western side, at scrum-half, where he was regarded as one of the best French players; he was “sparkling” according to the sporting press. He also played a few friendly matches for Stade Toulousain at the end of the season.
The 1931-1932 season saw U.S. Narbonne finally enter the U.F.R.A. Championship, known as the Tournoi des Quatorze. J. Carrère continued to steer Narbonne's game with great success. U.S. Narbonne had a decent season in this championship, finishing sixth in the standings. J. Carrère is regularly cited as one of the key players in this squad despite an expulsion in December 1931 that suspended him for two matches. In February 1932, he remained one of U.F.R.A's star performers in selection matches, where he shone alongside Carcassonne's Albert Domec.

### 1932-1934: The “Carrère affair”, disbarred for more than a year

For the 1932-1933 season, U.F.R.A. returned to the French Rugby Federation. As a result, U.S. Narbonne merged with R.C. Narbonne, and their membership was to merge as well. Joseph Carrère then asked to be reinstated in the latter club, but in September 1932 the Disciplinary Board of the Fédération Française de Rugby à XV arbitrarily banned him from being registered, which meant that he was forbidden to play rugby à XV. J. Carrère is not the only one mentioned, as there are also Robert Samatan, Richard Majérus, and Charles Bigot. The reasons for J. Carrère's disbarment were not initially known to either the player or the R.C. Narbonne management, the latter declaring that he was greatly surprised by the decision. A month later, in mid-October 1932, Narbonne's directors contacted the Federation to find out why the player had been struck off and discovered that the reason had nothing to do with professionalism, but rather with a match a year earlier, when J. Carrère was reported to have insulted a referee while playing under the aegis of the U.F.R.A.
A year later, in November 1933, Joseph Carrère, having received no news of his request to be reinstated at R.C. Narbonne, this time applied for qualification for U.S. Nouvelloise, specifying that he would not play any matches with any other club, in the hope that his situation would improve. The Languedoc committee granted J. Carrère's license, but came under pressure from the Federation's disciplinary committee, which left it responsible for this choice, stipulating that J. Carrère could only be requalified with R.C. Narbonne: thus, if the license was upheld, the disciplinary committee would sanction the Languedoc committee, as it alone could validate a transfer request, in this case from R.C. Narbonne to E.S. Nouvelloise. Faced with this threat, the Languedoc committee reversed its decision concerning J. Carrère and withdrew his license.
Finally, on December 2, 1933, the Disciplinary Committee of the French Rugby Federation in XV granted J. Carrère's license, as he had undertaken to create the E.S. Nouvelloise club and not to play for any other club, even if the club disappeared.

### 1934: end of the rugby à XV chapter and Pionnier du rugby à XIII in France
#### The Pioneer Tour

At the end of 1933, Jean Galia, banished from XV rugby, initiated the arrival of XIII rugby in France. With this in mind, he decided to convince a number of players to join him. Joseph Carrère announced his arrival in XIII rugby by denouncing Brown amateurism, as did many XV rugby players, including many internationals. Thus, in February 1934, Joseph Carrère announced his rallying to this movement initiated by J. Galia, and settled his accounts with the Rugby XV Federation by declaring that this temporary expulsion was the responsibility of one of the members of this commission, M. Terré (head of the Stade Toulousain), in retaliation for his refusal to join the Stade Toulousain in 1932 despite a signing bonus of 15,000 francs and a salary of 1,200 francs a month. Following Robert Samatan's example, he denounced the professionalism initiated by Stade Toulousain, even though it had been a spokesman for amateurism within the U.F.R.A. for two years, and criticized the French Federation for failing to sanction professionalism as it should. This statement was welcomed by R.C. Narbonne's directors, who had always considered his expulsion an injustice. On the other hand, the directors of Stade Toulousain accused R. Samatan and J. Carrère of pure defamation.
For the first demonstration of rugby à XIII in France, Jean Galia organized a tour of England for a French selection in March 1934. J. Carrère was part of this selection, to be known as “Les Pionniers”, surrounded by some of the greats of XV rugby at the time, such as Robert Samatan, Jean Duhau, Charles Mathon and Charles Petit, who were keen to denounce the amateurism of the XV after having been banished, and to put their talents to good use in rugby. This tour launched the Treiziste movement in France, creating a number of clubs and setting up a French Championship in the autumn of 1934.

#### 1934-1938: Key player for R.C. Roanne
##### 1934-1935: First season and success with XIII

At the start of the 1934 season, Joseph Carrère left his hometown of Narbonne and signed for the Loire-based club R.C. Roanne, which included former rugby union internationals Charles Petit and Jean Duhau. The R.C. Roanne club is founded by M. Place with the help of international C. Petit. Petit succeeded in attracting a large number of memberships from leading rugby union players such as Jean Rolland, Jean Duhau, André Hiriart, and Henri Dechavanne. At the end of 1934, he was selected for the French national team but did not take up his starting position in favor of Pierre Germineau, who played against Wales in the inaugural European Nations Cup.
For the second European Cup match against England, coach J. Galia put P. Germineau and J. Carrère up against each other, and this time it was the native of Narbonne who got the better of P. Germineau in a selection match on February 17, 1935, in Bayonne and was paired with Pau opener Roger Lanta. J. Galia chose him because he had already faced English players on tour, notably his English opposite number Tommy McCue. The match was close, ending in a 15-15 draw. J. Carrère is renowned for the quality of his tackling, and played an active part in the result.
In the French Championship, Carrère's R.C. de Roanne remained in the top half of the table for the first time, finishing fourth behind Jean Galia's Champion S.A. Villeneuve, Bordeaux XIII and U.S. Lyon-Villeurbanne. In the Coupe de France, R.C. Roanne was pitted against neighboring U.S. Lyon-Villeurbanne. The match was interrupted at half-time by the withdrawal of J. Carrère's team-mates, who were unhappy with the refereeing decisions, and the club was punished with a loss, leaving Lyon to qualify for the next round. He ended his season with a prestigious match against a Welsh-English team, giving up his place at half-time to P. Germineau.

#### 1935-1936: Carrère, France's benchmark scrum-half

For the 1935-1936 season, R.C. Roanne positioned itself as a serious contender for national titles, counting on the arrivals of Eugène Chaud, the British Jones and Pearce and Montluçonnais Huc. J. Carrère was considered one of the leaders of the Roannais team and, despite his “pudgy frame” and the passing years, sports journalists in L'Auto praised his talent, comparing him to “good wine”. Thus, at the end of October, J. Carrère was called up for a selection match for the French national team against a team named “rest”, as a scrum-half with R. Lanta at openside for the match against Wales on November 23, 1935, his main rival in this position being Parisian P. Germineau. He confirmed his team's victory in this selection match (56-45), but his designated opening partner was Étienne Cougnenc, with whom he got on well. In view of this first match of the 1935-1936 European Cup, J. Carrère was one of the candidates to be appointed captain of the French team following the retirement of Jean Galia, who nevertheless remained coach, but it was Max Rousié who finally took on this role. France was beaten 41-7 in Llanelli, and many French players, such as J. Carrère, were severely criticized. Despite this setback, J. Carrère remained the number one scrum-half, this time ahead of Pierre Brinsolles.
In the French Championship, R.C. Roanne, led by J. Carrère in the absence of captain Jean Duhau, who was immobilized for four months between October and February due to a car accident, enjoyed a season that saw them play in the top positions and even take first place in January 1936. In February 1936, J. Carrère made his fourth and final selection for the French national team, selected as scrum-half, along with M. Rousié at openside, to face England on February 16, 1936. France was beaten 25-7 and finished last in the competition. J. Carrère, without showing any demerit, lost his place in the French team, which was aiming to renew and rejuvenate its XIII starting line-up for the coming months.
R.C. Roanne's end-of-season performance gave them hope of a place in the final. The club finished top of its pool in the Championship, ahead of neighboring U.S. Lyon-Villeurbanne and R.C. Albigeois, before eliminating Paris Rugby XIII 19-13 in the quarter-finals. At the same time, they eliminated XIII Catalan in the quarter-finals of the Coupe de France 3-0. Qualified for the semi-finals of both competitions, R.C. Roanne lost both matches. Dominated in the Coupe de France semi-final by Côte Basque XIII 10-0, they were also beaten 14-12 by XIII Catalan in the Championship semi-final.

#### 1936-1937: The versatile player

For the 1936-1937 season, President C. Devernois' R.C. Roanne had the same ambitions. Devernois' R.C. Roanne had the same ambitions as in previous seasons, positioning itself as a contender for national titles. With this in mind, the team underwent few changes and Joseph Carrère retained the confidence of his captain Jean Duhau, while two Englishmen, Evans and Hazlehurst, strengthened the squad. J. Carrère, who had played as scrum-half and third-rower in previous years, was experimented with on a number of occasions this season in the new role of full-back and was described as the “all-rounder” of R.C. Roanne.
Halfway through the season in January 1937, R.C. Roanne were on the podium of the French Championship, confirming their ambitions match after match; J. Carrère played an active part, being cited as one of the leading players in the Roanne team alongside Max Rousié, Henri Gibert and J. Duhau. In the Coupe de France, R.C. Roanne eliminated Périgueux XIII in the round of 16, but lost in the quarter-finals to XIII Catalan 12-10 on a drop-goal by François Noguères. In the Championship, the Loire club managed to finish third in the regular season standings and faced Raoul Bonamy and Henri Audurau's Bordeaux XIII in the semi-finals. Played in Roanne, Bordeaux XIII came out on top, 21-10, in a match in which the Bordelais seemed superior to the Roannais in all areas.

#### 1937-1938: Roanne's final season and Coupe de France victory

In the off-season of 1937, R.C. Roanne underwent a major personnel upheaval, with a few players left over from the previous season, including Joseph Carrère, Max Rousié, Eugène Chaud, and Charles Lamarque. The brothers Robert and Jean Dauger, Sylvain Claverie-Barbe, Vincent Martimpé-Gallart, Robert Samatan, and Joseph Griffard were among the players who came to strengthen R.C. Roanne and enable it to finally win a coveted national title. J. Carrère remained a possibility for the French team, which coach J. Galia allowed himself. Galia, but he preferred to rely on the versatility of his Roanne team-mate M. Rousié. R.C. Roanne showcased their high-caliber team across the stadiums, confirming the high expectations placed on them by remaining at or within touching distance of the top spot in the French Championship. However, with a squad comprising a large number of talented players, J. Carrère found himself on a number of occasions a substitute.
In January 1938, R.C. Roanne took on Australia, who had come to Europe on tour. Australia beat them 20-13, but third-row J. Carrère was cited as his team's best player despite his age. At the end of January, the two best teams in the Championship, U.S. Lyon-Villeurbanne and R.C. Roanne, meet in Lyon. The match went in the Lyonnais' favor, 11-7, as they showed their team spirit against the “groupement des vedettes”; during the match, J. Carrère was sent off for fighting.
As the season drew to a close, R.C. Roanne confirmed the team's early-season ambitions. In the Coupe de France, the Loire club eliminated Bègles in the round of 16, Toulouse Olympique XIII in the quarter-finals and XIII Catalan in the semi-finals. In the Championnat de France, R.C. Roanne finished second in the regular season, eliminated XIII Catalan in the quarter-finals, but saw its bid for a Championnat-Coupe double halted in the semi-finals by S.A. Villeneuve 3-2 in Bordeaux. In the French Cup final the following week, Roanne faced the same opponents who had eliminated them in Championnat. Roanne exacted their revenge in style, beating Villeneuve 36-12 on May 8, 1938, at the Stade des Minimes in Toulouse, in front of over 10,000 spectators. J. Carrère, along with R. Samatan, M. Rousié, J. Griffard, and Jean Dauger, launched decisive attacks and scored eight tries. This was R.C. Roanne's first title.

#### R.C. Narbonne switches to rugby à XIII

For the 1938-1939 season, two clubs in Aude decided to change their rugby code by becoming XIII rugby clubs: A.S. Carcassonne and R.C. Narbonne. To launch this first season, R.C. Narbonne, directly integrated into the championship's first division, called on its former player Joseph Carrère, whose role was to initiate Narbonnais, such as Francis Vals, Pierre Escaffre, and Eugène Boyer, into the subtleties of XIII rugby.
J. Carrère's R.C. Narbonne's debut was far from ludicrous for neophytes, occupying sixth place in the championship standings after eight rounds in mid-November 1938. Over the course of the season, however, R.C. Narbonne gradually slipped back in the standings, struggling to avoid the last place occupied by Pau XIII. J. Carrère was reunited with his former Narbonne team-mates in February 1939 in Narbonne, but a match incident wiped out the joyous reunion when René Arotça hit J. Carrère, bringing the match to a halt. Carrère, leading to a brawl on the pitch which forced M. Devernois, president of R.C. Roanne, to intervene to calm things down. The Roannais accused J. Carrère of bad behavior from the start of the match. A month later, in March 1939, J. Carrère was once again at the center of a controversy during a match against S.A. Villeneuve in Albi in the round of 16 of the Coupe de France: a derogatory remark he made to referee M. Chavannes led to his expulsion. He was defended by his coach Eugène Ribère, who reported to the French XIII Rugby League that the referee had used insults to provoke the incident, while recalling incidents involving J. Carrère three or four years earlier. There is no mention of any sanction against J. Carrère. The season ended with R.C. Narbonne in twelfth place.

### After his career

The career of Joseph Carrère, then aged 35, came to an end in the 1939-1940 season, as the Second World War was about to begin, leading to the suspension of the Championship and the call-up of many players for military service at the start of the new school year in September 1939, which for many put an end to many sporting careers, before rugby in XIII was banned in France in 1940 by the Vichy regime.
J. Carrère enlisted in the French army and was seriously wounded in combat in May 1940, amputating an arm. Returning to the Roanne area after the war, he died on October 19, 1954, in Mably (Loire).

## Awards
### XV Rugby
#### Club details

| Season | Season | Championship | Championship |
| Season | Season | Comp. | Class. |
| 1924-25 | RC Narbonne | French Championship | 1/2 final |
| 1925-26 | RC Narbonne | French Championship | Group 1/4 final |
| 1926-27 | RC Narbonne | French Championship | Groups of four |
| 1927-28 | RC Narbonne | French Championship | Groups of five |
| 1928-29 | RC Narbonne | French Championship | Groups of three |
| 1929-30 | RC Narbonne | French Championship | Groups of three |
| 1930-31 | US Narbonne | No championship | |
| 1931-32 | US Narbonne | Tournoi des quatorze | 6th |
| 1932-33 | Joseph Carrère is disbarred from the French Rugby Federation in XV until December 1933. | Joseph Carrère is disbarred from the French Rugby Federation in XV until December 1933. | Joseph Carrère is disbarred from the French Rugby Federation in XV until December 1933. |
| 1933-34 | E.S. Port-la-Nouvelle | | |

### XIII Rugby
#### European Nations Cup

Details of Carrère's European Nations Cup career :
| Edition | Rank | Results for France | Carrère's results | Carrère's matches |
| 1935 | 2 | 0 v 1 n 0 d | 1 v 1 n 0 d | 1/2 |
| 1936 | 3 | 0 v 0 n 2 d | 0 v 0 n 2 d | 2/2 |

#### Selection details

Joseph Carrère's international matches :
| | Date | Adversary | Result | Competition | Position | Points | Essais | Pen. | Drops |
| 1. | 15 April 1934 | England | 21-32 | Test-match | Scrum half | - | - | - | - |
| 2. | 28 March 1935 | England | 15-15 | European Cup | Scrum half | - | - | - | - |
| 3. | 23 November 1935 | Wales | 7-41 | European Cup | Scrum half | - | - | - | - |
| 4. | 16 February 1936 | England | 7-25 | European Cup | Scrum half | - | - | - | - |

#### Club details

| Season | Season | Championship | Championship | Cup | Cup | Selection | Selection | Selection | Selection | Selection | Selection |
| Season | Season | Comp. | Class. | Comp. | Class. | Comp. | M | Pts | Ess. | Buts | Dp. |
| 1934-1935 | RC Roanne | French Championship | 4th | European Cup | 1/4 final | European Cup | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1935-1936 | RC Roanne | French Championship | 1/2 final | European Cup | 1/2 final | European Cup | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1936-1937 | RC Roanne | French Championship | 1/2 final | European Cup | 1/4 final | | | | | | |
| 1937-1938 | RC Roanne | French Championship | 1/2 final | European Cup | Winner | | | | | | |
| 1938-1939 | RC Narbonne | French Championship | 12th | European Cup | 1/8 final | | | | | |