ComeOnYouUll wrote:
It was a tournament held just the once and featured Hull and Halifax as English Champions and runners up from the previous season plus Albi and Carcasonne the top two from France.
Hull won the title with five wins and a draw from the six matches (Hull and Halifax's league games doubled as European Championship games). It seemed to have been popular, one of the games against Albi at The Boulevard was played on a Monday night due to a crowded fixture list and the attendance was 10,000. It was the third home game in four days after Carcasonne on the Friday and a league game with Bradford on the Saturday.
Mick Scott scored a last minute drop in the Albi game to earn Hull a draw. A big win over Halifax a week later won us the trophy.
I went to the Monday night game against Albi and remember it being a great game. The fixture congestion was a major reason why the idea was subsequently dropped but the series did forge a good link between Hull and Carcassonne and Hull played friendlies with them from time to time.
Cannot leave Carcassonne without a mention of Puig Albert who was one of the most remarkable players that has ever been inducted into the Rugby League Hall of Fame. A brilliant goal and drop kicker he played full-back and was a chain-smoking,wine-drinking character who left tackling to others! Best to look him up on Wiki to get the full story. He had left Carcassonne when the 56/57 series was played and I saw him play for France.