The 2023 Rugby World Cup was an opportunity to combine two passions of mine: geography and rugby - with a bit of a computational twist.
Sourcing data from Wikipedia, I collected the list of the 1165 players that represented France at the international level since 1906, then looped through each page to collect, when available, their respective place and date of birth.
A bit of geocoding and some attempts at mastering ObservableHQ led to this simple interactive website (in French, but thinking about a translation soon…).
Using the time slider, you can explore the global circulations and local patterns that preside over the making of the French national rugby team over the last 117 years.
Several key trends emerge:
- an international recruitment from the very beginnings of the French national team (Russia, England, Argentina, etc.) ;
- the prominent role of small towns and villages in France, especially from 1945 to 1975;
- the historical weight of the South-West, a region commonly depicted as the stronghold of rugby in France - despite the fact that Paris is the 2nd largest provider of international rugby players after Toulouse;
- the legacies of the French colonial empire, with many players born in Africa (Algeria, Cameroon, Ivory Coast etc.) and Oceania (New Caledonia, Wallis and Futuna - still French territories to this day);
- a pronounced process of urbanization, with more and more players born in large cities over the last 20 years, while the geographical footprint of players extends across the entire country, towards the North and the West, where the game is historically less developed;
- the transformation of rugby into a professional, globalized industry, with foreign players coming from South Africa (2nd most represented country), New Zealand or Fiji, to have a professional career in the French domestic league, prior to becoming eligible and selected for the French national team.
This is just a little exploration, but if time allows, I will try and improve this analysis - and replicate the process for other teams.
The script and the data can be accessed in this repository.