Brilliant Blanco getting too big for his boots

THERE’S hardly a rugby fan who hasn’t been blown away by the on field exploits of the legendary Serge Blanco.

Many sound judges rate the Frenchman the finest full-back the game has produced. He was blessed with all the gifts, defensively he couldn’t be faulted, but it was when he counterattacked that he brought friend and foe to their feet. The try he scored in the dying minutes of the 1987 World Cup semi-final against Australia is part of the game’s folklore.

He wasn’t just a classy, out-of-the-ordinary player, he was a character as well. His propensity for stealing a smoke just before going on the pitch for a big game was well-known, and when it was finally time to hang up his boots after he had won 93 caps between 1980 and ‘91, he turned to the administrative side of the game, while also setting up a chain of highly successful sports shops in the south of France.