It is not a French speciality, nor a purely rugby one, but since we are on a French rugby site, happy Father’s Day to all those rugby-playing dads proud of their child, their children and their grandchildren.

Blood will tell, from all corners of the rugby world

Juan Imhoff, son of a great Pumas captain, the Farrell family in England, the Welsh Joneses, Davieses, Edwardses and Jameses, the Fijian Kavubatis (father and brothers), the Australian Lynaghs (Michael the father, world champion in 1991, and his sons Tom and Louis)… There are countless examples.

France, a fine nursery of dynasties

France is not to be outdone: Michel Yachvili, hooker in the first Grand Slam of 1968, and his sons Dimitri, who needs no introduction, and Grégoire (a Georgia international flanker, 2003 World Cup), for example. The legendary Philippe Sella, the first centurion (1994) in the history of world rugby, father of Geoffrey, David Auradou and Hugo, Erik Bonneval and his two sons Hugo and Arthur, Raphaël Ibanez and his daughter Marie, Claude and Richard Dourthe, Émile Ntamack, proud father of Romain and Théo, Alain Penaud and Damian, Jean-Claude Skrela and David (and also Gaëlle, a basketball international), Olivier Roumat and Alexandre, Irishman Trevor Brennan and his sons in the France jersey, Joshua and Daniel, Jean-Marc Bourret and his daughter Marie (now Sempéré), the Vannes pair Paga Tafili and his son Rayan, who recently made history by playing together as professionals and lifting a shield (Pro D2 for the father, Espoirs for the son)…

The Elissaldes, four generations in the scrum

And then there are the Elissaldes: Jean-Pierre Elissalde was an international, as was his son Jean-Baptiste, whose grandfathers also were (Laurent Bidart, an international, and Arnaud Elissalde, a player and then a coach at La Rochelle)… not forgetting Sacha, 18, Jean-Baptiste’s son, who has signed an Espoirs contract with La Rochelle!

The ride of the laughing oval ball is not about to stop; blood will always tell! To be continued…

This Sunday, we celebrate dads. And in the rugby world, the finest pass of all is handed down from generation to generation. From the Pumas to France, these dynasties are a reminder that rugby remains, above all, a family affair.

The itsrugby.com newsroom’s thoughts are very much with the Narjissi family