Women rugby in France, 1920s

This is rue Nationale, one of the main streets of Lille (in the north of France - map).

I have purchased this postcard for a tiny detail... There is a sign on the building on the right advertising for the next women rugby fixture... "Femina Hirondelles Paris" vs "Lille Rugby Athletic Club"...



I have been fairly surprised to discover that women rugby was then played in this Northern part of France where rugby was far from being popular... could this be that women rugby in the 20s had a greater exposure than today ?

Google doesn't know about "Lille Rugby Athletic Club"... any idea ?

I also take the opportunity to show this 1'50 video showing the girls of Cercle Femina Paris - the leading omnisports women club in Paris after WW1 - playing rugby in 1928 (rugby starts after 30s). Low quality, but interesting document... credit to BritishPathé : I should probably contact them and ask to support this blog by providing better quality footages...

Is this post related to the RWC ? ... errr, no ! but you could check that older post insted, about Women RWC last year...

More at www.rugby-pioneers.com