Édouard Ponsinet

Infobox rugby league biography
playername = Édouard Ponsinet
fullname = Édouard Ponsinet


caption =
country =
position = Second Row
dateofbirth = 1923
placeofbirth = Carcassonne, France
dateofdeath = death date|2006|10|22|mf=y
placeofdeath = Carcassonne, France
height = 1.82 cm
weight = 98 kg
club1 = Carcassonne
year1start = 1944
year1end = 1952
appearances1 =
tries1 =
goals1 =
fieldgoals1 =
points1 =
teamA = France
yearAstart = 1948
yearAend = 1953
appearancesA = 19
triesA =
goalsA =
fieldgoalsA =
pointsA = 12
updated =
source =
new = yes

Édouard Ponsinet (born 1923 in Carcassonne, France died October 22, 2006 in Carcassonne, France) was a French rugby league player for AS Carcassonne and club Lézignan in the French rugby league championship competition. He also represented the France national rugby league team on eighteen occasions; his position of choice was in the second row.

Ponsinet originally had his background in athletics and at the age of eighteen was a member of both the French junior triathlon and sprinting teams; a year later he was crowned junior triathlon champion in France and ran a one hundred metre time of 11.3 seconds.

In early 1940 Édouard is courted by French rugby league club AS Carcassonne but before he is able to play a competition game for the club the newly appointed vichy government outlaws rugby league forcing all clubs to join rugby union or cease to exist. AS Carcassonne for a short time becomes "ACE Carcassonne" and plays rugby union off and on over the next three years until the Vichy government is taken out of power and the Carcassonne club reverts back to rugby league.

Over the next ten years with AS Carcassonne Ponsinet becomes a vital member of the clubs first team helping them to achieve five French rugby league championship titles and four Lord Derby Cups. It is also during these golden years with Carcassonne that Ponsinet cements his place in the French national side forming a lethal combination with fellow second row forward Élie Brousse. Over these years in French colours on the international scene, Édouard becomes well renowed in the rugby league world as one of the premier forwards in the game evident in his strong performances against the Australians during their 1951 tour to Oceania.

He eventually retired from the professional game at the resolution of the 1952 season before accepting a job as a coach at the Lézignan club the following year.

Ponsinet passed away on October 22, 2006 at the age of eighty-three

External links

* [http://www.eraofthebiff.com/p-104.html Édouard Ponsinet at eraofthebiff.com]