"Just six months after a bevy of blazers at the Hotel Ambassador on Boulevard Haussmann in Paris announced to the world that rugby union had officially entered the professional age, the city's Parc des Princes welcomed a land still steeped in amateurism."
"The post-1995 World Cup Paris Accord had not necessarily represented such a monumental leap for those involved in the sport; professionalism, or "shamateurism", had existed even before startled folks up north had witnessed it at first-hand at the inaugural 1987 World Cup."
Six months after a group at the Hotel Ambassador on Boulevard Haussmann declared rugby union had officially entered the professional age, the Parc des Princes still reflected entrenched amateurism. The post-1995 World Cup Paris Accord did not necessarily mark a dramatic change for many within the sport. Professional practices, described as "shamateurism", had existed earlier and had been visible to observers as far back as the inaugural 1987 World Cup. The coexistence of formal professional declarations and continuing amateur realities underscores an uneven, gradual transition within rugby union.
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