Fabien Barcella
Encyclopedia
Fabien Barcella is a French rugby union
player, currently playing for Biarritz Olympique
in the Top 14 league in France. He also plays for France
.
before joining Valence-d'Agen in 2005. He then went on to play for Auch
between 2006 and 2008. In 2008 he joined Biarritz Olympique
where he made his Heineken Cup
debut.
sprung a surprise when he called up Barcella for the 2008 Six Nations Championship
match against Italy
at the Stade de France
. He was also called up to the Wales
game a week later. He featured again in the Autumn against Argentina
.
During the 2009 Six Nations Championship
, he was in competition with Sale
prop Lionel Faure
for the starting job, which he obtained, making big performances. He played at the 2011 Rugby World Cup
squad in New Zealand
.
He was later called for test matches against New Zealand and Australia
in June, where he made a number of standout performances. Barcella is often seen as one of the best loose head props in the world, his ability to destroy his opposite number in the scrum and cause havok around the pitch with his brute aggression often sets him apart from his peers.
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
player, currently playing for Biarritz Olympique
Biarritz Olympique
Biarritz Olympique Pays Basque is a French professional rugby union team based in the Basque city of Biarritz, Aquitaine which competes in the Top 14 and the Heineken Cup...
in the Top 14 league in France. He also plays for France
France national rugby union team
The France national rugby union team represents France in rugby union. They compete annually against England, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales in the Six Nations Championship. They have won the championship outright sixteen times, shared it a further eight times, and have completed nine grand slams...
.
Domestic Clubs
Barcella played for ToulouseStade Toulousain
Stade Toulousain, also referred to as Toulouse, is a French rugby union club from Toulouse in Midi-Pyrénées. Toulouse is one of the finest rugby clubs in Europe, having won the Heineken Cup four times – in 1996, 2003, 2005 and 2010. They were also runners-up in 2004 and 2008 against London Wasps...
before joining Valence-d'Agen in 2005. He then went on to play for Auch
FC Auch Gers
Football Club Auch Gers is a French rugby union club based in Auch in Midi-Pyrénées currently playing in Rugby Pro D2, the second tier of the country's professional league system. In recent years, they have bounced between the first-level Top 14 and Pro D2...
between 2006 and 2008. In 2008 he joined Biarritz Olympique
Biarritz Olympique
Biarritz Olympique Pays Basque is a French professional rugby union team based in the Basque city of Biarritz, Aquitaine which competes in the Top 14 and the Heineken Cup...
where he made his Heineken Cup
Heineken Cup
The Heineken Cup is one of two annual rugby union competitions organised by European Rugby Cup involving leading club, regional and provincial teams from the six International Rugby Board countries in Europe whose national teams compete in the Six Nations Championship: England, France, Ireland,...
debut.
International Selection
In 2008 French coach Marc LievremontMarc Lièvremont
Marc Lièvremont is a former rugby union footballer and was the head coach of the French national rugby union team. He played as a back-row forward for France, gaining 25 caps from 1995 to 1999, and was selected in France's 1999 Rugby World Cup squad...
sprung a surprise when he called up Barcella for the 2008 Six Nations Championship
2008 Six Nations Championship
The 2008 Six Nations Championship, known as the 2008 RBS 6 Nations because of the tournament's sponsorship by the Royal Bank of Scotland, was the ninth series of the rugby union Six Nations Championship. Including the previous incarnations as the Home Nations and Five Nations, this was the 114th...
match against Italy
Italy national rugby union team
The Italy national rugby union team represent the nation of Italy in the sport of rugby union. The team is also known as the Azzurri . Italy have been playing international rugby since the late 1920s, and since 2000 compete annually in the Six Nations Championship with England, France, Ireland,...
at the Stade de France
Stade de France
The Stade de France is the national stadium of France, situated just north of Paris in the commune of Saint-Denis. It has an all-seater capacity of 80,000, making it the fifth largest stadium in Europe, and is used by both the France national football team and French rugby union team for...
. He was also called up to the Wales
Wales national rugby union team
The Wales national rugby union team represent Wales in international rugby union tournaments. They compete annually in the Six Nations Championship with England, France, Ireland, Italy and Scotland. Wales have won the Six Nations and its predecessors 24 times outright, second only to England with...
game a week later. He featured again in the Autumn against Argentina
Argentina national rugby union team
The Argentina national rugby team, nicknamed Los Pumas, represents Argentina in international rugby union matches. The team, which plays in sky blue and white jerseys, is organised by the Argentine Rugby Union .Argentina played its first international rugby match in 1910 against a touring British...
.
During the 2009 Six Nations Championship
2009 Six Nations Championship
The 2009 Six Nations Championship, known as the 2009 RBS 6 Nations because of the tournament's sponsorship by the Royal Bank of Scotland, was the tenth Six Nations Championship, an annual rugby union competition contested by the six major Northern Hemisphere rugby union national teams...
, he was in competition with Sale
Sale Sharks
Sale Sharks are a professional rugby union club who play in England in the Aviva Premiership.The club is an offshoot of Sale FC, which is based at Heywood Road in Sale, Greater Manchester, but Sharks currently play in Stockport at Edgeley Park, ground sharing with Stockport County F.C.Part of the...
prop Lionel Faure
Lionel Faure
Lionel Faure is a rugby union player for Clermont Auvergne in the Top 14. Faure plays as a Loosehead prop, and previously played for the Sale Sharks and won the 2005–06 Guinness Premiership with them....
for the starting job, which he obtained, making big performances. He played at the 2011 Rugby World Cup
2011 Rugby World Cup
The 2011 Rugby World Cup was the seventh Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. The International Rugby Board selected New Zealand as the host country in preference to Japan and South Africa at a meeting in Dublin on 17 November 2005...
squad in New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
.
He was later called for test matches against New Zealand and Australia
Australia national rugby union team
The Australian national rugby union team is the representative side of Australia in rugby union. The national team is nicknamed the Wallabies and competes annually with New Zealand and South Africa in the Tri-Nations Series, in which they also contest the Bledisloe Cup with New Zealand and the...
in June, where he made a number of standout performances. Barcella is often seen as one of the best loose head props in the world, his ability to destroy his opposite number in the scrum and cause havok around the pitch with his brute aggression often sets him apart from his peers.