Eric Melville
| Date of birth | 27 June 1961 | ||||||||||||||||
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| Place of birth | Cape Town, South Africa | ||||||||||||||||
| Date of death | 19 June 2017 (aged 55) | ||||||||||||||||
| Place of death | La Garde, Var, France | ||||||||||||||||
| Height | 6 ft 5 in (196 cm) | ||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 237 lb (108 kg) | ||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||
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Eric Melville (27 June 1961 — 19 June 2017) was a French rugby union international.[1]
Melville, born and raised in Cape Town, moved to France in 1980 soon after finishing school. He spent his first six years of French rugby at Landes-based clubs Hagetmau and Stade Montois, then in 1986 began a successful period with RC Toulon, where he was a member of two top division championship-winning teams.[2]
A giant back-row forward, Melville acquired French nationality and in 1990 became the first player of South African origin to be capped for the
Melville served stints as head coach of French clubs FCS Rumilly, SO Ugine-Albertville, RO Grasse and Stade Dijonnais between 2003 and 2012. He coached Switzerland at the time of his death from a heart attack in 2017.[5]
See also
References
- ^ "Toulon : l'international varois Eric Melville est décédé". L'Équipe (in French). 19 June 2017.
- ^ "SA-born ex-France international Melville dies". News24. 19 June 2017.
- ^ Keohane, Mark (25 October 2020). "The secret behind South Africans' love affair with French rugby". Independent Online.
- Fédération Française de Rugby(in French).
- ^ "Eric Melville, la révérence du colosse". Le Temps (in French). 19 June 2017.