Jean-Pierre Clar

Jean-Pierre Clar was born on 27 February 1942 in Hanoi, then in French Indochina, to a French father and a Vietnamese mother. He settled in France as a youth and grew into one of the defining forward figures of Villeneuve-sur-Lot rugby league, a dual-code French champion, and a France international who started the 1968 Rugby League World Cup final against Australia. He died on 5 September 2026 at age 84. French Wikipedia places the death in Villeneuve-sur-Lot. Family notices scheduled religious funeral rites for 10 September 2026 at 14:30 in the church of Saint-Etienne in Villeneuve-sur-Lot.

Nicknames followed him everywhere: Jap, Nam, Le Chinois, and Tronche d'obus. Writers traced Nam and Le Chinois to his Indochinese birth; Tronche d'obus nodded to a hard, shell-like face for contact. Period encyclopedias described a player who was neither especially heavy nor especially fast, yet technically on point, all speed of execution. Off the field he worked first as a welder and locksmith, then as a company director. Rugbyrama joked that on a pitch he always seemed to find the key.

He began at US Villeneuve XIII in the late 1950s beside a gifted generation that included Jacques Gruppi and Christian Sabatie, under coach Andre "Jep" Lacoste, later remembered as Clar's spiritual father in the game. Around 1961 he crossed to neighbouring SU Agen in rugby union. Sources differ on exact union position labels (flanker in English Wikipedia; prop / left prop in French coverage and finalesrugby for the 1962 final). What is not disputed is the result: on 27 May 1962 at Stadium de Toulouse, junior-age Clar started for Agen in the French Championship final after Marius Lagiewski was suspended following a stormy semi-final against Dax. Agen beat AS Beziers 14-11 before more than 32,000 spectators, with Serge Mericq's late try still argued by Beziers partisans decades later. Clar also shared Agen's 1963 Challenge Yves du Manoir success. His brother Christian Clar, barred from union because of prior league play, stayed in XIII; Jean-Pierre returned to Villeneuve during 1963-64 so they could play together again.

That homecoming produced Villeneuve's celebrated 1964 double: French Championship and Coupe de France under Lacoste, with teammates including Christian Clar, the Gruppi brothers, Christian Sabatie, Etienne Courtine, Francis Bertrand, and others of the green-and-white core. Later club years brought more finals than titles. French Wikipedia lists Championship finalist seasons in 1965 and 1974 and Coupe de France finalist appearances in 1966, 1969, 1970, and 1972. (Note: finalesrugby's short biography text claiming Championship titles in 1965 and 1974 conflicts with the French Wikipedia palmares tables, which mark those years as finalist; prefer the Wikipedia tables for facts.) Sud Ouest credited Clar with about thirteen Villeneuve seasons spanning 1959 to 1974.

France called him from 1965. Cap counts vary by source: Rugby League Project logs 27 senior Tests (1965-1972) with a detailed match list; finalesrugby and Rugbyrama cite 28 selections (international No. 294); some Who's Who / Wikipedia prose lines say 34. Treat about 27-28 as the database consensus and note the higher figure as an alternate published total. He usually wore loose forward / third-row (lock), switching to hooker in late caps. Highlights included series wins against New Zealand (1965), tough Anglo-French Tests, and a famous 6 March 1967 display against Great Britain at Wigan, where he absorbed rough treatment (including from Bill Bryant) and left to British applause.

The peak came in May-June 1968 in Australia and New Zealand. Clar started all four of France's World Cup matches at lock: wins over New Zealand (15-10) and Great Britain (7-2) at Carlaw Park, Auckland; a heavy pool loss to Australia in Brisbane (4-37) in which he captained France in Georges Ailleres's absence; and the final on 10 June 1968 at the Sydney Cricket Ground, where Australia won 20-2 before 54,290. France had held the Kangaroos for long stretches before the scoreboard blew out. Clar also played the 1970 World Cup (third place for France) and European Championship matches around 1969-1970.

After playing he coached at Cahors, Duras, and Pineuilh. Club elders still spoke of him as the living shorthand for Villeneuve XIII. Former club president Michel Pierre called him a monument of the town and said that when people spoke of Villeneuve XIII they spoke of Clar, alongside Sabatie. Pierre recalled chest-cracking tackles that "sounded like a caramel" from the Myre-Mory stands, and a forward who "behaved like a prop" despite an unimposing frame. Former international Michel Laville, who debuted beside him in 1973 at eighteen, called him "the dad," protective of young teammates on and off the field. Clar died having already been preceded by brother Christian in the "treiziste paradise," as La Depeche phrased it. Survivors named in the funeral notice include wife Claudine Clar; daughters Nancie and Candice; son-in-law Olivier Bousquet; and grandchildren Paul, Gauthier, and Jean. Cause of death was not made public in the obituaries reviewed.

This memorial is for Jean-Pierre Clar (b. 1942 Hanoi), Villeneuve XIII / SU Agen / France RL lock-forward, nicknamed Jap / Nam / Le Chinois / Tronche d'obus. It is not Jean-Pierre Claris de Florian (18th-century French writer) and not Jean-Pierre Genet (1990s Racing / France RU hooker).