In celebration of the 20th anniversary of the Polo Club de Chantilly, a polo match between France and Argentina was scheduled at the renowned club, which was founded in 1996 by Patrick Guerrand-Hermès, on Sunday, 22 May 2016. Due to heavy rain, the encounter had been cancelled right before noon, but after a discussion between the leaders of both teams, Pancho Bensadon (+8) and Brieuc Rigaux (+6), the game was held nevertheless.
Therefore, right before 2.00 pm, the field had dried a little and an announce had been made that an encounter in four periods would be played. A nice gesture from the eight players, who showed in both sides an amazing motivation along the week. The French players knew they were doing a favour not only to the public, but also to the Argentines players. The latest had indeed the all organization on site, horses and players. Which was not the case of the Tricolours: two players were in Paris (and came back in a flash), and the horses had stayed either in Normandy, or in the west-Parisian clubs. It was then that all the professional French players of Chantilly (Adrien LeGallo, Clément Gosset, Edouard Pan) joined forces to lend their horses to their France Team buddies, as only Brieuc Rigaux, and Pierre Henri Ngoumou for a part, had their horses on site. A great solidarity gesture for this team and proof of friendship between the professionals.
The kick-off of this “improvised” game had finally been given at 3.15 pm under a pouring rain that had flared up, not ideal to play polo. France had been defeated, as Brieuc Rigaux sums up this way: “We held in the beginning of the game, but then, we let them the occasion to get confident. Our defence plan, especially on Pancho Bensadon, didn’t hold: too often he was isolated and so he could organize his game just like he wanted. Argentina has players who are more used to play at top-level compared to us but today, it’s clear that the difference of the quality of the horses has really had an impact”. In the end, Argentina defeated France by a final result of 11-6.
Teams:
Team Argentina (+22)
Ignacio Kennedy (+3)
Juan P. Chavanne (+5)
Francisco “Pancho” Bensadon (+8)
Martin Aguerre Jr (+6)
France (+21)
Clément Delfosse (+5)
Patrick Paillol (+5)
Brieuc Rigaux (+6)
Pierre Henri Ngoumou (+5)
The Polo Club of Chantilly
In 1996, Patrick Guerrand-Hermès, creative and visionary man, has the audacious idea of opening the world of polo to a wide audience, thereby making it affordable for players and also more accessible to the public. Today, the Polo Club of Chantilly is the biggest polo school in France, and one of the biggest Polo club in Europe. It extends over the 205 hectares of the Apremont Farm (XVIIth century) and has an exceptional site, bordering the Chantilly forest, Capital of Horse, 45 minutes away from Paris. The Polo Club of Chantilly organizes numerous international competition, such as the Spring Triple-Crown, and the French Opens in September.
www.poloclubchantilly.com