Auch Preview – The team, The Town and the Tour

By BrianC
October 19 2004

Our first tour of this season takes us to the town of Auch in Gascony. In this preview we look not only at the team but also the town and the tour.

The Team

FC Auch (FCA) are in the Parker Pen Challenge Cup this season by dint of winning French division two last year, hence gaining promotion to the first division. There is not a lot to be found out about them on the web, indeed a Google search for “Auch Rugby” lists The Craic site in the top ten. I can find no web site for either the club or the supporters. Since their promotion to the top 16 in France they have struggled somewhat and are currently bottom of the Division 1 table. That is not to say they will be a pushover, far from it. The week before last they recorded their first win of the season, a 33-26 victory over high flyers Agen. They play at the 7,000 capacity (3500 seated) Stade Patrice Brocas.

From what I can find about Auch they appear to have been battling with internal politics and low budgets in recent times. Their president Jacques Fouroux first sacked then later reinstated the coaches Henry Broncan and Roland Pujo last December. They have the smallest budget of any Division One team (£700k). With an average salary of £600 per month most of the players work part time for the club and part time in other occupations. Prop Sebastien Lopez is a farmer and, amongst other things, currently spends some of his time demonstrating against the common agricultural policy.

With promotion FCA have cast their net wide looking for players, their team currently resembles a mini United Nations assembly with four Romanians, two Morrocans, a Russian, an Argentinian, a Tunisian, a Samoan and an Andorran. Second row Romanian Sandu Ciorascu has been made captain. This, perhaps not unsurprisingly, has led to language problems and apparently to some almost comical misunderstandings on the pitch. Their pack commands respect with Argentinean Omar Hasan Jean-baptiste Rué but even their coach, Henry Broncan, admits "the back line lacks speed and technique".

The Town

Auch[Pronounced Osh] is the capital of Gers dept. Situated on the Gers river in Gascony it has a population of twenty five thousand. It is a market town and commercial center with a variety of manufacturers and an important trade in Armagnac brandy, poultry, wine, and grain. One of the chief towns of Roman Gaul, it was an archiepiscopal see, the capital of Armagnac (10th cent.), and the capital of Gascony (17th cent.).

Auch is most easily accessible by car or rail from Toulouse, 78km to the east. The old town, which is the only part worth exploring, stands on a bluff overlooking the tree-lined River Gers, with the cathedral prominent at its edge.

It is this building - the Cathédrale Ste-Marie - which makes a trip to Auch worthwhile. Although not finished until the latter part of the seventeenth century, it is built in basically late Gothic style, with a classical facade. Of particular interest are the choir stalls (daily: April-June & Sept 10am-noon & 2-6pm, July & Aug 9am-6pm; Oct-March 9.30am-12.30pm & 2-5pm; 6F/?0.92) and the stained glass; both were begun in the early 1500s, though the windows are of clearly Renaissance inspiration, while the choir remains Gothic. The stalls are thought to have been carved by the same craftsmen who executed those at St-Bertrand-de-Comminges , and show the same extraordinary virtuosity and detail. The eighteen windows, unusual in being a complete set, parallel the scenes and personages depicted in the stalls. They are the work of a Gascon painter, Arnaud de Moles, and are equally rich in detail.

Immediately south of the cathedral, in the tree-filled place Salinis, is the forty-metre-high Tour d'Armagnac , which served as an ecclesiastical court and prison in the fourteenth century. Descending from here to the river is a monumental stairway of 234 steps, with a statue of d'Artagnan gracing one of the terraces. From place de la République, in front of the cathedral's main west door, rue d'Espagne connects with rue de la Convention and what is left of the narrow medieval stairways known as the pousterles , which give access to the lower town. On the north side of place de la République, the tourist office inhabits a splendid half-timbered fifteenth-century house on the corner with rue Dessoles, a pedestrianized street boasting an array of fine buildings. Just down the steps to the east of rue Dessoles, on place Louis-Blanc, the former Couvent des Jacobins houses one of the best collections of pre-Columbian and later South American art in France, left to the town by an adventurous son, M. Pujos, who had lived in Chile in the last years of the nineteenth century. Now known as the Musée d'Auch (Tues-Sun: May-Sept 10am-noon & 2-6pm; rest of year 10am-noon & 2-5pm; 10F/?1.53), it also boasts a small collection of traditional Gascon furniture, religious artefacts and Gallo-Roman remains.

The Tour

Those of you who have been on a London Irish tour before will not need telling what an enjoyable experience it is.

The tour party seem to be mostly flying into Toulouse, although some are going via Pau, then splitting into two primary groups. Those traveling via the LISC/St. Clares travel are staying in Toulouse and traveling by coach the 50 odd miles to and from the ground. Those traveling independently are mainly staying in Auch, the Ibis and the Hotel France being the two hotels that seem to be most popular.

As the match is a 6pm kick off a long run up to this is envisaged. By all accounts the stadium is one kilometer (about ¾ of a mile) from the center of the town so it will be eminently walkable. Les Daroles on the market square has been scouted for us by the ever alert Father Ted. He assures us that the altar wine there is good quality. Things can always change when we are there but for now, for those of us in Auch, we’ll make this our rendezvous point. There does not however appear to be any shortage of eateries in town.

Those in Toulouse have again been invited to the Killarney Bar. As I missed last seasons tours I have no knowledge of this place save what has been posted on the board. By all accounts a very warm welcome is assured.

Tours are a great way to meet up with fellow supporters, new best friends, and share the craic. This is our first ever visit to Auch so they won’t quite know what to expect as we descend on the town. It’s time to paint the town green. If things go as they have on previous trips we’ll leave them with fond memories of the ‘Mad English-Irishmen’.