Louis Picamoles

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

Louis Picamoles
Picamoles playing for Toulouse in 2015
Birth nameLouis Picamoles
Date of birth (1986-02-05) 5 February 1986
Place of birthParis, France
Height1.92 m (6 ft 4 in)
Weight116 kg (18 st 4 lb; 256 lb)[1]
Rugby union career
Position(s) Number eight, Flanker
Senior career
Years Team Apps (Points)
2004–2009
2009–2016
2016–2017
2017–2021
2021–		 Montpellier
Toulouse
Northampton Saints
Montpellier
Bordeaux		 64
150
20
57
35		 (55)
(110)
(20)
(112)
10
Correct as of 19 May 2022
International career
Years Team Apps (Points)
2008–2019 France 82 (50)
Correct as of 2 March 2022

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, Picamoles 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. That year he was a replacement for the final as Toulouse won the Heineken Cup.[2]

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 won 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 Montpellier Hérault RC. His former club paid Saints a record transfer fee of at least £1 million for the France international.[5][6]

On 1 February 2021, Picamoles left Montpellier again to join with Top 14 rivals Bordeaux for the 2021–22 season.[7]

International career

Picamoles has been a familiar face in the France national team since making his debut in 2008 – which was a 26–21 victory over Ireland during the 2008 Six Nations Championship. It was in 2008 that Picamoles scored his first try, against the Pacific Islanders on 15 November. Though 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.[8][9] He was part of the 2011 Rugby World Cup squad that came runners-up to New Zealand, only playing in three tests during the tournament. After being dropped by Philippe Saint-André for most of 2014, 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
10.1 February 2019Stade de France, Saint-Denis, France Wales
19–24
Six Nations Championship

References
  1. "Stade Toulousain". stadetoulousain.fr.
  2. "Biarritz 19–21 Toulouse". BBC. 22 May 2010. Retrieved 25 September 2019.
  3. "Northampton Saints sign France number eight Louis Picamoles from Toulouse". Sky Sports. 2 November 2015. Retrieved 5 January 2016.
  4. northamptonsaints. "3 home games, 3 MOTM awards for King Louis!". instagram. Archived from the original on 2021-12-24.
  5. "Picamoles the toast of the town at Saints awards". Northampton Saints.
  6. Gerard Meagher (31 May 2017). "Louis Picamoles moves to Montpellier from Northampton for record £1m fee". The Guardian.
  7. "Report: Louis Picamoles to join Bordeaux Begles". Rugby Pass. 1 February 2021. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
  8. "BBC Sport – Rugby Union – Bastareaud recalled for France's Six Nations opener". bbc.co.uk. 4 February 2010.
  9. Huw Richards. "Resolute France seal Grand Slam". ESPN scrum.
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