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They’re the bruisers of French rugby who graphically illustrated there was no show without punch.... plus gouging, butting and stamping for that matter!

Rugby is, of course, a different game these days and many would be utterly aghast casting their minds back to the dark ages of French rugby when free-for-alls were part and parcel of the Test scene and opposition were left black and bleu.

Bans were like badges of honour with regular weighty punishments given to French players in the 70s, 80s and 90s for the whole gamut of rugby no-nos.

Off the pitch French rugby back then also had its tragic side none more so than the tale of renowned international prop, from Beziers, Armand Vaquerin.

On July 10 1993, Vaquerin spent the night drinking with friends at a bar that he co-owned called “Le Cardiff” – the name apparently a tribute to his exploits for the French rugby team against Wales at Cardiff Arms Park in the Five Nations ––when he engaged in a game of Russsian Roulette with his own revolver and killed himself.

Then there’s back-row enforcer and former Les Bleus skipper Marc Cecillon who in August 2004 shot his wife five times in front of 60 people after she refused to leave a party with him. he was sentenced to 20 years in prison, reduced to 14 years on appeal. He was freed on parole in 2011.

Related:Six Nations injuries update: Wales wait on fitness of Luke Charteris and Jonathan Davies ahead of France clash

Amid the backdrop of violence both on and off the pitch even legendary Wales and British Lions hardman Bobby Windsor, a hooker never to take a backward step, was wary of packing down across the English Channel.

When you ask Bobby to come up with his own personal list of hard men, he moves away from Wales and names a couple of real French rogues.

“Michel Palmie, the Beziers second-row, would have to be No.1,” he said when topping our poll of Welsh rugby’s hardest men.

“He’d boot anyone, any time. He’d give a quick look round to make sure the ref wasn’t looking and then, bang.

“Alain Esteve, another lock from the same club, would be right up there with him.

“They were committed to winning whatever the cost, especially out there,” he said. “When you played the All Blacks, rucking was their game.

“If you went on the ground with them, it was like going through a combine harvester.

“You were lucky to still have your jersey on your back. But with the French, it was like they wanted to kill you.

“That pack of theirs in the 1970s was a mean pack of forwards. You had to admire them.”

Here, in an article first published last year, we trawled through the rogues gallery to bring you some of France’s most notorious bruisers, hardmen and lovers of the boot-iful game... some of them featured here are all three!

The infamous French brutes

1: Michel Palmie (1971-78, 23 caps): Rugby Magazine once claimed Palmie “punched and gouged his way from Paris to Toulouse” even when playing against mates. Career ended in 1978 after being banned for life for punching Armand Clerc leaving the Racing Club player partially blinded in one eye. He went on to become an official in the French Rugby Federation.

2: Alain Esteve (1971-74, 21 caps) : The ‘Beast of Beziers’ stood out even in he 70s when French rugby was known for its violence. The lock ruled the French roost and with touch-judges unable to flag for foul play the hitmen thrived. “That Esteve was a real handful,” recalled Windsor. “In the scrum he’d say “Bob-bee” and this big fist would come through and smack you in the chops. To get my own back I once booted him in the mush as hard as I could. He got up and gave me a wink. It takes a lot to scare me but I thought: “Bloody hell!”

3: Gerard Cholley (1975-79, 31 caps): A former heavyweight boxer, Cholley is most famous for a match in which he laid out four Scots. Said the French Services fighting champion quit the ring as rugby offered him more chances to get his punches in. “He was like a huge nightclub bouncer going to work and you couldn’t take your eyes off him for 80 minutes, he was always up to no good,” said England and Lions prop Fran Cotton.

4: Vincent Moscato (1991-92, 4 caps): The hooker tried his hand at rugby before embarking on a boxing career while running a bar in Bordeaux. Known as the ‘Beast of Begles’, Moscato made his name at the unfashionable club that flourished for their strong-arm tactics. Sent-off against England in 1992 alongside another notorious enforcer Gregoire Lascube for trying to head-butt Red Rose front-rower Jeff Probyn. Like Vinnie Jones went to be a star of the silver screen.

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5: Gregory Le Corvec (2007, 1 cap): The Perpignan flanker played just once for France against the All Blacks... probably down to the fact there was no real continuity in his rugby career due to countless bans. His rap-sheet would have earned a spell in rugby’s Bastille pre-French revolution and his disciplinary record reflects a penchant for a range of transgressions. Had convictions for punching, gouging and headbutting. And that’s just in one 18 month period.

6: Armand Vaquerin (1971-84, 26 caps): At 6ft and 16stone Beziers bruiser Vaquerin lived by the sword, but died by the gun. One of the most decorated players in French rugby history winning the Championship 10 times, balding, always moustached and often bearded, and sporting a deceptively kindly face that belied his brutal ferocity, Vaquerin was killed playing Russian Roulette, aged 42, after a night drinking with friends in the bar he co-owned called ‘Le Cardiff’.

7: Olivier Merle (1993-97, 45 caps): He was known by several nicknames, including “La Merluche” and “Le Massif Central”. He was known for his violent play and after headbutting Ricky Evans the Welsh prop in Paris causing a ruck to collapse on him breaking his ankle, resulted in his being sued successfully in the courts for damages. This was the first case of its kind and video evidence was used in court. After that he never played for France again.

8: Pascal Ondarts (1986-91, 42 caps): No player was off limits for the Biarritz hooker/prop with video footage showing him punching Canadian scrum-half Chris Tynan... and this in a 1991 World Cup warm-up match. An iron-willed, tempestuous Basque his first cap set the tone in the infamous Battle of Nantes, when France beat New Zealand in 1986, a match in which All Black captain Wayne Shelford suffered a torn scrotum.

9: Laurent Seigne (1989-95, 14 caps): Claimed to be part of the French front-row, alongside Pascal Ondarts and Louis Armary, that wound themselves up before games by butting one another. Even when he became a coach, Seigne’s novel motivational ideas continued. He once punched Gregory Kacala, the Brive flanker, because he felt that Kacala was too slow to anger on the field. Scotland fly-half Gregor Townsend said: “I first went to France in 1998 when I signed for Brive and Laurent Seigne was coach. He would be fighting his own forwards in the dressing room before matches.”

Related:The Wales team to play France: What changes should Warren Gatland make for Six Nations clash?

10: Marc Cecillon (1988-95, 46 caps): The fearsome No.8 was always wheeled out when Les Bleus fancied dining out on ‘Les Rosbifs’. Nothing had Cecillon more worked up than a white shirt featuring the Red Rose. When his famous aggression no longer had an outlet, in 2004 he shot dead his wife, Chantel, at a party near Bourgoin. taking a 20-year sentence in the progress. It was a tragic end to what was a truly fearsome career. Cecillon, was released on parole in 2011 after serving seven years.

11: Jean-Francois Imbernon (1976-83, 23 caps): The Perpignan lock spent two seasons packing down in the French second-row with Palmie and were the most notorious double act since Burke and Hare. Rugby’s answer to the Kray twins certainly left an indelible impression of Lions prop Cotton. “Palmie’s mate Jean-François Imbernon was no angel but he was also the athlete, a great lineout forward. They could be evil,” he said.

12: Claude Dourthe (1966-75, 33 caps): The centre earns his place in the hall of shame despite plying his trade in the centre for Les Bleus. Played on the edge with something of a short fuse, Dourthe’s weapon of choice was a high tackle and very often late. Dourthe and his son Richard, who is also a French international back, have a place in history — they are the only father and son to have both been sent off in international rugby.

13: Daniel Dubroca (1979-88, 33 caps): Was captain of the French side in 1986 during that now infamous violence-fuelled clash with the All Blacks in Nantes. Was to the fore that day as no ruck and maul was contested without some pretty X-rated skulduggery going on. Went on to coach the French team a couple of years after his retirement but manhandled New Zealand referee David Bishop in the players tunnel after Les Bleus had lost to England in a 1991 World Cup game and resigned.

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14: Philippe Gimbert (1991-92, 4 caps): Alongside Moscato another shaven-headed member of the fearsome Begles front-row. Played just four times for France but certainly left his mark on the international scene, particularly in the 1992 Five Nations clash with England at Parc des Princes. Accused of gouging and punching, Gimbert managed to stay on the field as referee Stephen Hilditch sent off Moscato and Gregoire Lascube.

15: Eric Champ (1985-91, 42 caps): More tougher and granite-hardened players donning the famous blue shirt than the former Toulon flanker but perhaps none with more sinister eyes. His battles with England counterpart Micky ‘The Munch’ Skinner were off Agincourt proportions. Champ was a real maverick with unkempt hair an all-action style and was prone to the rare moments of discipline.

16: Franck Tournaire (1995-2000, 49 caps): Sprung to prominence in the 1999 World Cup semi-final clash with the All Blacks when cleared of biting before then being fingered in eye gouging allegations. Not afraid to throw a punch or two. “I didn’t say anything after the semifinal because I didn’t want to distract from the French performance, but subsequent remarks from my players were of events that have no place in the game,” said New Zealand coach John Hart.

17: Gregoire Lascube: (1991-92, 12 caps): Another to have a short international career, but one that will live long in the memory of the English rugby team, and giant lock Martin Bayfield particularly, Joined Moscato in having an early bath against the Red Rose in 1992 when stamping on former policeman Bayfield, which was to be his last game in a French jersey.

18: Philippe Carbonneau (1995-2001, 32 caps): A scrum-half to make it into the hall of shame and a key figure in the now infamous ‘Battle of Brive’ with Pontypridd in the Heineken Cup that spilled into the Bar Le Toulzac. No shrinking violet when it came to the international scene and knew every trick in the book until being decked by a punch from little Arwel Thomas in a Five Nations match at Parc de Princes in 1997. Nowhere near as fearsome as some mentioned here, but one you couldn’t turn your back on.

19: Alain Paco (1974-80, 35 caps): Packed down with Gerard Cholley and Robert Paparemborde in a fearsome French front-row and it was said the triumvirate of torture ground down bones for a living. Not so much of a dirty players as others mentioned, but not only hard as nails, but you could imagine him banging in tacks with his head. Won six Championship titles with Beziers.

20: Robert Paparemborde (1975-83, 55 caps): The judo black belt was said to be impervious to pain, but died of cancer aged just 52 in 2001. The big Basque was a brute of a man, but rarely crossed over onto the dark side. “He wasn’t an excitable player like some of his colleagues of that era, he was just incredibly hard and immovable,” recalled Fran Cotton.