Vincent Clerc
Encyclopedia
Vincent Clerc is a French
rugby union
player who plays on the wing.
, suburb of the south of Grenoble
(Isère
), Clerc first played rugby at FC Grenoble
, helping them reach the Top 16 before moving to Toulouse
in 2002, where he has been playing ever since. He earned his first cap for France
on November 9, 2002 against South Africa
, and was selected as a member of the 2007 Rugby World Cup squad. He scored 5 tries during the first two games of the 2008 Six Nations Championship
against Scotland
and Ireland
. In a post-match interview after the match against Ireland Clerc stated to the French TV channel France 2
that he "never would have been able to score a hat-trick if Shane Horgan
had been playing." Horgan and Clerc have had a long rivalry and, unfortunately for Ireland, Horgan was unfit to play. In the 2007 RBS 6 Nations tournament Vincent scored a last gasp try against Ireland. In the last game of that series of games Vincent Clerc helped France to trounce Scotland to give them the title.
During the 2008 6 Nations, media attention focused on the final match of the tournament, where Clerc and Shane Williams
would play as opposite numbers. Both had scored five tries so far in the tournament, but ultimately the match, dubbed as the "Big battle of the little people" was won by Wales, with Williams scoring one final try in the competition.
Clerc ruputured the ligaments in his left knee while playing for Stade Toulousain
against ASM Clermont Auvergne
in April 2008. He made his club comeback in December 2008, against Mont-de-Marsan
, and was recalled to the national squad for the summer 2009 tests.
Clerc is involved with the Toulouse based charity Maison des Parents, which works alongside parents and their children, who suffer from illnesses and are being treated in Toulouse.
In 2010, he was selected in the French Barbarians squad to play Tonga
on November 26.
Clerc has scored 31 tries for France with 55 caps. He has scored 6 tries at the Rugby World Cup 2011, the joint highest amount, along with Chris Ashton
.
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
rugby union
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 who plays on the wing.
Biography
Born in the city of ÉchirollesÉchirolles
Échirolles is a commune in the Isère department in south-eastern France.It is the second-largest suburb of the city of Grenoble, and is adjacent to it on the south. In the 1999 census, Échirolles had a population of 35,383. Its inhabitants are called the Échirollois...
, suburb of the south of Grenoble
Grenoble
Grenoble is a city in southeastern France, at the foot of the French Alps where the river Drac joins the Isère. Located in the Rhône-Alpes region, Grenoble is the capital of the department of Isère...
(Isère
Isère
Isère is a department in the Rhône-Alpes region in the east of France named after the river Isère.- History :Isère is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790. It was created from part of the former province of Dauphiné...
), Clerc first played rugby at FC Grenoble
FC Grenoble
Football Club de Grenoble Alpes Rugby is a French rugby union club which, until recently, competed in the top level of the French league system. They play at Stade Lesdiguières . They wear red and blue.-History:...
, helping them reach the Top 16 before moving to Toulouse
Stade 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...
in 2002, where he has been playing ever since. He earned his first cap 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...
on November 9, 2002 against South Africa
South Africa national rugby union team
The South African national rugby union team are 2009 British and Irish Lions Series winners. They are currently ranked as the fourth best team in the IRB World Rankings and were named 2008 World Team of the Year at the prestigious Laureus World Sports Awards.Although South Africa was instrumental...
, and was selected as a member of the 2007 Rugby World Cup squad. He scored 5 tries during the first two games of 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...
against Scotland
Scotland national rugby union team
The Scotland national rugby union team represent Scotland in international rugby union. Rugby union in Scotland is administered by the Scottish Rugby Union. The Scotland rugby union team is currently ranked eighth in the IRB World Rankings as of 19 September 2011...
and Ireland
Ireland national rugby union team
The Ireland national rugby union team represents the island of Ireland in rugby union. The team competes annually in the Six Nations Championship and every four years in the Rugby World Cup, where they reached the quarter-final stage in all but two competitions The Ireland national rugby union...
. In a post-match interview after the match against Ireland Clerc stated to the French TV channel France 2
France 2
France 2 is a French public national television channel. It is part of the state-owned France Télévisions group, along with France 3, France 4, France 5 and France Ô...
that he "never would have been able to score a hat-trick if Shane Horgan
Shane Horgan
Shane Patrick Horgan born 18 July 1978 in Bellewstown, County Meath is a rugby union player who plays wing or centre for Leinster and Ireland. He is tall. While he was young he played for Boyne RFC. He also played Gaelic football at Minor level with Meath.Horgan joined Lansdowne on leaving...
had been playing." Horgan and Clerc have had a long rivalry and, unfortunately for Ireland, Horgan was unfit to play. In the 2007 RBS 6 Nations tournament Vincent scored a last gasp try against Ireland. In the last game of that series of games Vincent Clerc helped France to trounce Scotland to give them the title.
During the 2008 6 Nations, media attention focused on the final match of the tournament, where Clerc and Shane Williams
Shane Williams
Shane Mark Williams is a Welsh international rugby union player who plays as a wing for the Ospreys and who can also play scrum-half. Williams is the record try scorer for the Wales national team and he is third on the international list of leading Rugby union Test try scorers behind Daisuke Ohata...
would play as opposite numbers. Both had scored five tries so far in the tournament, but ultimately the match, dubbed as the "Big battle of the little people" was won by Wales, with Williams scoring one final try in the competition.
Clerc ruputured the ligaments in his left knee while playing for Stade Toulousain
Stade 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...
against ASM Clermont Auvergne
ASM Clermont Auvergne
Association Sportive Montferrandaise Clermont Auvergne are a French rugby union club from Clermont-Ferrand in Auvergne that currently competes in Top 14, the top level of the French league system, ASMCA are the were the 2010 France Top 14 Champions. It is the rugby section of the multi-sport club...
in April 2008. He made his club comeback in December 2008, against Mont-de-Marsan
Mont-de-Marsan
Mont-de-Marsan is a commune and capital of the Landes department in Aquitaine in southwestern France.Mont-de-Marsan airbase « Constantin Rozanoff » is a major installation of the French Air Force. The base includes CEAM , an air defense radar command reporting centre, and an air defence control...
, and was recalled to the national squad for the summer 2009 tests.
Clerc is involved with the Toulouse based charity Maison des Parents, which works alongside parents and their children, who suffer from illnesses and are being treated in Toulouse.
In 2010, he was selected in the French Barbarians squad to play Tonga
Tonga national rugby union team
The Tonga national rugby union team is nicknamed Ikale Tahi . Like their Polynesian neighbours, the Tongans start their matches with a war dance – the Kailao . They are members of the Pacific Islands Rugby Alliance along with Fiji and Samoa...
on November 26.
Clerc has scored 31 tries for France with 55 caps. He has scored 6 tries at the Rugby World Cup 2011, the joint highest amount, along with Chris Ashton
Chris Ashton
Chris Ashton is an English rugby union player who has represented England in both Rugby League and Rugby Union...
.
Honours
- Stade ToulousainStade ToulousainStade 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...
- Heineken CupHeineken CupThe 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,...
(20032002-03 Heineken CupThe 2002–03 Heineken Cup was the eighth edition of the Heineken Cup. Competing teams from France, Ireland, Italy, Wales, England and Scotland, were divided into six pools of four, in which teams played home and away matches against each other...
, 2010 and 20052004-05 Heineken CupThe 2004-5 Heineken Cup was the tenth edition of the Heineken Cup. Competing teams, from England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales, were divided into six pools of four, in which teams played home and away matches against each other...
) - Top 14 (20082007-08 Top 14 seasonThe 2007-08 Top 14 Competition was a French domestic rugby union club competition, operated by the Ligue Nationale de Rugby . Because France hosted the 2007 Rugby World Cup, the competition did not begin at its normal time of August, but instead started on the last weekend in October 2007, one week...
)
- Heineken Cup
- France national teamFrance national rugby union teamThe 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...
- Six Nations ChampionshipSix Nations ChampionshipThe Six Nations Championship is an annual international rugby union competition involving six European sides: England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales....
(20042004 Six Nations ChampionshipThe 2004 Six Nations Championship was the fifth series of the rugby union Six Nations Championship to be held since the competition expanded in 2000 to include Italy. Including the previous incarnations as the Home Nations and Five Nations, this was the hundred-and-tenth series of the northern...
, 20062006 Six Nations ChampionshipThe 2006 RBS 6 Nations Championship was the seventh series of the rugby union Six Nations Championship to be held since the competition expanded in 2000 to include Italy...
and 20072007 Six Nations ChampionshipThe 2007 RBS 6 Nations Championship was the eighth series of the rugby union Six Nations Championship. Including the previous incarnations as the Home Nations and Five Nations, this was the 113th series of the northern hemisphere rugby union championship...
)
- Six Nations Championship