‘So here I am in tight black Y-fronts in full view of over 60,000 people and all I see is ‘Crow’ pointing at me, laughing his head off’
Ireland's Victor Costello tackles France's Olivier Campan during the Five Nations clash in Paris in 1996. Photo: Laurence Griffiths/EMPICS via Getty ImagesJust six months after a bevy of blazers at the Hotel Ambassador on Boulevard Haussmann in Paris announced to the world that rugby union had officially entered the professional age, the city’s Parc des Princes welcomed a land still steeped in amateurism. The post-1995 World Cup Paris Accord had not necessarily represented such a monumental leap for those involved in the sport; professionalism, or “shamateurism”, had existed even before startled folks up north had witnessed it at first-hand at the inaugural 1987 World Cup.
Source: Irish Independent February 04, 2026 06:12 UTC
