Puig Aubert

Puig Aubert

Personal information
Full name	Robert Aubert Puig
Born	(1925-03-24)24 March 1925 Andernach, Germany
Died	3 June 1994(1994-06-03) (aged 69) Carcassonne, France
Playing information
Height	167 cm (5 ft 6 in)
Weight	60 kg (9 st 6 lb)
Position	Fullback
Club Years Team Pld T G FG P 1944–53 Carcassonne 1953–57 XIII Catalan 1958–59 Paris 1959–60 Castelnaudary Total 0 0 0 0 0 Representative Years Team Pld T G FG P 1946–56 France 46 361
Coaching information
Club Years Team Gms W D L W% AS Carcassonne 0 0 0 0 Representative Years Team Gms W D L W% 1975 France 0 0 0 0

Puig Aubert (born Robert Aubert Puig, 24 March 1925 – 3 June 1994), is often considered the best French rugby league footballer of all time.^[1] Over a 16-year professional career he would play for Carcassonne, XIII Catalan, Celtic de Paris and Castelnaudary winning five French championships and four French cups along with representing the France on 46 occasions.^[2] His position of choice was at fullback and after his retirement in 1960 he would go on to coach Carcassonne and France^[3] along with becoming head French national selector for several years.

Aubert was actually born Robert Aubert Puig, but when he signed as a teenager for Carcassonne, there were several other established players that shared the same surname that a local newspaper editor printed his name back-to-front to avoid confusion and it ending up sticking and he became the most famous of them all.^{[citation needed]}

His nickname "Pipette" was a reference to his smoking habits, which at several stages saw him smoking on the field.^[4] Quite famously in a game against Wigan (which was played in a snowstorm), he actually caught the ball with one hand while holding a cigarette in the other hand. While he often had unusual habits for a sportsman, there was no denying his talent, he was a master at kicking in play and in overall attack he was both unorthodox and unpredictable. Aside from his playing skill, he developed a reputation based on his somewhat eccentric attitude or charismatic manner. He was known to not tackle a player if he believed it would demonstrate the fault of his team-mates for not previously making the tackle,^[5] a cause of some controversy during his career.^{[citation needed]}

The pinnacle of Aubert's career was on the 1951 tour of Australasia, when he played in 25 of France's 29 matches, and scored a record 221 points. Puig-Aubert's performances in 1951 earned him his country's Champion of Champions title – the first time a footballer from any code had been so honoured.^[6]

In 1988, he was inducted into the Rugby League Hall of Fame.^{[citation needed]}