The Grammar TEC, New Zealand’s twin from UBB

Ahead of their World Cup semi-final match against New Zealand on Saturday, the French national team train at Grammar TEC Stadium in the eastern suburbs of Auckland. 19,000 kilometers from Chaban-Delmas, this New Zealand club wears a crest almost identical to the UBB crest.

On Monday, the French women’s team discovered its training ground from the previous week Exciting semi-final match against the Black Ferns Saturday (7:30 am French time). It was the Grammar TEC club, located in the eastern suburbs of Auckland, in Orakei, that provided its facilities to Les Bleues. They were able to see with amusement that there was such a piece of France in this town on the Bay of Okaho.

Looking at the entrance plaque or the club’s windows, we discover that Grammar TEC shares the same logo, or roughly the same, with Union Bordeaux-Bègles. Only nuances – a green border and not a burgundy, a lion directed in the other direction – make it possible to distinguish between the two peaks. The address should have informed us, because the club is located on Reihana Street, like former All Black Bruce Reihana (3 caps), who played for UBB (2011-2014) before joining Girondin (2014-2017).

To understand the nature of this strange similarity, we have to go back to the creation of Grammar TEC, which, like UBB, is the result of a merger between two teams, Grammar Carlton and The Teachers Eastern, on the brink of the 2015 season. “We needed a new name, a new shirt and therefore a new logoBrandon Jackson, president of the club, recalls the time it was created. And we had to start the season fast with all our gear. I remember it took months to design the shirt, figuring out what kind of blue to choose and where to put certain touches of green and yellow! »

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As the months progressed, the Grammar TEC didn’t have a consistent logo. So Jackson and his coach searched the internet for logos from all over the world to find their favorite ones. “The Bordeaux-Bègles logo was part of our final listThe former president sets a vivid memory of the club. We made the decision for our new logo on the committee and everyone loved the UBB logo, especially thanks to the history of this club that was born out of the two teams meeting. It resonated with us at the time, because we wanted to take on the same challenge as UBB and survive as a new club. »

The Lion of Stade Bordelais was simply replaced by the Auckland Grammar School, while the Béglais chess board took on the light shade of the Eastern Teachers’ Emblem. “It was a completely different logo from the old teams’ logos but there was enough color to make everyone happy.”Jackson smiles.

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The links between Bordeaux-Bègles and Grammar TEC don’t stop there. Looking a little further, we discover that many players have worn the colors of both teams. Simon Hickey played half of the kiwi fly for two seasons at UBB after making a name for himself with the Grammar TEC and then the Auckland Blues (2016-2018). Before him, it was Lachie Munro who tried the Gironde adventure, when the club had just reached the Top 14 (2012-2013), but the versatile back only developed at Grammar Carlton, before merging with Teachers Eastern.

Recently, powerful winger Ben Lam added an episode to the hilarious joint history between UBB and GTEC. Before joining Montpellier this summer, he has been wearing the shoulder for the past two seasons (2020-2022). “We are very happy with our logo, and we are not at all disappointed in choosing the UBB logo by adapting it to our history”Brandon Jackson satisfied. Before concluding: “I hope Bordeaux residents will see the history of our logo as a tribute to UBB.”

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