Who’d want to see this lot waiting for them?

Brendan Gallagher delves into some of rugby‘s most enduring images, their story and why they are still so impactful

What’s happening here?

I’m not exactly sure because the Getty’s archive simply labels this ‘March, 1975′, but we do know that it is four of the fearsome Spanghero brothers lining up for Narbonne as they often did in the mid-70s. It was the biggest number that ever started for the First XV. To these eyes it looks very much like the “paddock” area out the back at one end of the old Stade Chaban Delmas in Bordeaux. From left to right we have Jean Marie, Walter, Guy and Claude.

What’s the story behind the picture?

A remarkable rugby fraternity of Italian origins – their parents were from Friui in north-east Italy – who settled in the minute village of Payra-sur-l’Hers in the Aude Department. Initially the family were mainly farm labourers and with six brothers in total the Spangheros often made up nearly 30 per cent of the pupils at the small village school.

Rugby was their outlet and the key to a better life. Laurent, the eldest and not in this picture, was as strong as an ox and the trailblazer. He headed for Narbonne, alternating between prop and second row.

In this picture we have Jean Marie, who could play anywhere in the front five, Walter who was capped in three positions by France, and Guy who appeared at hooker or flanker. Then came the biggest and “baddest” of them all – Claude, a massive unit even by today’s standards. A sixth brother, Gilbert, also occasionally started for Narbonne.

Narbonne were to benefit from all of their services and their matches with local rivals Beziers were off the scale in terms of physicality and the dark arts. It has to be said that Beziers prevailed more often than not in the French Championship but during this period Narbonne can look back on four Coup de Manoirs in the 70s – with two of them pleasingly involving wins in the final over Beziers – while they were runners-up in the French Championship in 1974 and won it in 1979. Big Claude was the only brother to feature in all of those triumphs.

At Test level Walter was outstanding and won 51 caps for France, being a key man in their pack during their 1968 Grand Slam and Championship winning sides in 1967 and 1973. Initially he played at lock for France and during the second half of his career often appeared in the back row. Claude was another magnificent forward – again at lock or in the back row – who might have won more than his 22 caps but for the presence of first his brother and then the deadly duo of Michel Palmie and Francois Imbernon.

Even by French standards Claude was also considered a little volatile and had his run-ins with the selectors. Walter and Claude played together on seven occasions for Les Bleus but had a stormy relationship, with peace only breaking out when they were playing together.

What happened next?

As for the game I can’t tell you, but in the longer term the fame and profile their playing days offered heralded considerable business careers. For many years Walter ran one of the biggest taxi franchises in the south of France, with Toulouse being his epicentre, and often kept his hand in and picked up fares himself. On more than one occasion he was the next cab off the rank at Toulouse airport when I was heading for the city centre on a big match day.

Meanwhile Claude and Laurent – both trenchermen of the first order – combined forces to run the internationally acclaimed food company, À la Table de Spanghero, which specialised in all sorts of rustic French dishes but was best known for their cassoulet. They were based in Castelnaudary, the cassoulet capital of the world.

Why is the picture iconic?

For me, this picture, like few others, evokes the butterflies we all used to feel as young players before a match. My god, where did these geezers come from? Absolute bloody specimens, beasts of burden and 50 per cent of the Narbonne pack. You just knew the next 80 minutes were going to be horrible. It was going to be confrontational and pain all the way, much of it very possibly illegal.

Walter is the most famous and celebrated of the brothers and, late in his career, is beginning to look like an elder statesman. In his youth he was a rugged, wild looking individual but fame and fortune have mellowed him a little with his coiffured hair. By this time he had emerged as an unlikely king of cool off the pitch with his roll neck cashmere sweaters and Italian cut leather jacket. This is the man that Colin Meads rated as his toughest ever opponent. Note he is under 6 feet 2inches tall, minute for a modern day lock. Meads was of a similar stature.

Footnote: Laurent and Claude inadvertently became involved in an international scandal in 2013 when, four years years after retiring and selling their share of their company, it was closed down for allegedly using horse meat in its products. Laurent reentered the fray and repurchased the mothballed company to ensure employment for those who had been laid off and renamed it La Lauragaise.