Louis Picamoles

[1]

Louis Picamoles
Picamoles playing for Toulouse in 2015
Birth name Louis Picamoles
Date of birth (1986-02-05) 5 February 1986
Place of birth Paris, France
Height 1.92 m (6 ft 3 1⁄2 in)
Weight 116 kg (18 st 4 lb; 256 lb)[2]
Rugby union career
Position(s) Back row
Senior career
Years Team Apps (Points)
2004–2009
2009–2016
2016–2017
2017–		 Montpellier
Toulouse
Northampton Saints
Montpellier		 64
150
20
12		 (55)
(110)
(20)
(15)
Correct as of 1 June 2017
National team(s)
Years Team Apps (Points)
2008– France 69 (45)
Correct as of 11 February 2018

Louis Picamoles (born 5 February 1986) is a French rugby union player who plays for Montpellier Hérault RC in the Top 14. Picamoles's preferred position is at number eight, which is his regular position.

Club career

Picamoles began his club career at Montpellier in 1999 and played for the club for ten years, in which he picked up 64 appearances. His first professional match was on 2 October 2004 against Auch during the 2004–05 Top 16 season. His last match was 16 May 2009, during the 2008–09 Top 14 season against Toulon.

For the 2009–10 Top 14 season, he signed with Toulouse, where in his debut season, he was part of the team that made it all the way to the semi-finals, losing to eventual runners-up Perpignan 19–6. In that season, his debut with Toulouse was a narrow 16–17 win against Montauban.

On 2 November 2015, Picamoles joined Northampton Saints in the Aviva Premiership on a three-year deal from the 2016-17 season and made an instant impact, receiving three man of the match awards in the first three home games he featured in.[3][4]

The number eight also bagged the Players' Player of the Season and Supporters' Player of the Season as well as the Champagne Moment of the Season at Northampton Saints End of Season Awards at Althorp house as well as scooping the Supporters Club Player of the Year the week before.[5]

It was announced on Wednesday, May 31, 2017 that Picamoles would leave Northampton despite still having two seasons left on his contract to link back up with former club Montpellier Hérault RC who paid Saints a substantial transfer fee for the France international.[6]

International career

Picamoles has been a familiar face in the French national squad since making his debut in 2008 - which was a 26–21 victory over Ireland during the 2008 Six Nations Championship. It was during the 2008 end-of-year rugby union internationals that Picamoles scored his first try, scoring against the Pacific Islanders on 15 November. Though being part of the 2010 Six Nations Championship squad, Picamoles did not appear once in any of the five tests, in what turned out to be a Grand Slam campaign for Les Bleus.[7][8] He was part of the 2011 Rugby World Cup squad that came runners-up to the All Blacks, only playing in three tests during the campaign. After being dropped by Philippe Saint-André for most of the 2014 calendar year, a return to form with strong performances for Toulouse, saw Louis recalled to the French squad for the 2015 Six Nations Championship.

International tries

#DateVenueOpponentResult
(FRA-Opp.)		Competition
1.15 November 2008Stade Bonal, Sochaux, FrancePacific Islanders
42–17
Test Match
2.16 June 2012Estadio Mario Alberto Kempes, Cordoba, Argentina Argentina
20–23
Test Match
3.10 November 2012Stade de France, Saint-Denis, France Australia
33–10
Test Match
4.3 February 2013Stadio Olimpico, Rome, Italy Italy
18–23
Six Nations Championship
5.9 March 2013Aviva Stadium, Dublin, Ireland Ireland
13–13
Six Nations Championship
6.9 February 2014Stade de France, Saint-Denis, France Italy
30–10
Six Nations Championship
7.17 October 2015Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, Wales New Zealand
13–62
2015 Rugby World Cup
8.26 November 2016Stade de France, Saint-Denis, France New Zealand
19–24
Test Match
9.11 March 2017Stadio Olimpico, Rome, Italy Italy
40–18
Six Nations Championship

Playing style

Picamoles impact as a ball carrier has been ascribed to a low centre of gravity and powerful legs.[9]

References

  1. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_mbHCXB-K8
  2. ↑ "Stade Toulousain". stadetoulousain.fr.
  3. ↑ "Northampton Saints sign France number eight Louis Picamoles from Toulouse". Sky Sports. 2 November 2015. Retrieved 5 January 2016.
  4. ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/BMHvvGeAHQx/?taken-by=officialnorthamptonsaints
  5. ↑ https://www.northamptonsaints.co.uk/news/latest-headlines/2017/may-2017/picamoles-the-toast-of-the-town-at-saints-awards/
  6. ↑ https://www.northamptonsaints.co.uk/news/latest-headlines/2017/may-2017/picamoles-the-toast-of-the-town-at-saints-awards/
  7. ↑ "BBC Sport - Rugby Union - Bastareaud recalled for France's Six Nations opener". bbc.co.uk.
  8. ↑ Huw Richards. "Resolute France seal Grand Slam". ESPN scrum.
  9. ↑ http://www.irishexaminer.com/rwc15/rwc15-analysis/louis-picamoles-tossed-me-aside-as-nonchalantly-as-a-parisian-flicking-a-gitanes-butt-onto-the-champs-delysees-358327.html
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