Louis PICAMOLES

Biog of Louis PICAMOLES :

On 13 November 2009 when Louis Picamoles performed brilliantly in France’s victory against the World Champions, South Africa, in Toulouse, many thought les Bleus had at last found their barnstorming number eight. On the occasion of his fifteenth cap, the Picamoles who was on show that day - (extremely) powerful, skilful and hard working, was voted man of the match, scoring 8.5/10 in L’Equipe newspaper. He looked the finished article, but looks can be deceptive.

Picamoles’ three-match run in the starting line up, beginning with two promising tests in New Zealand in June, was brought to an end by a knee injury. By his own admission, Picamoles went back to the old error of his ways, mentally and physically taking his foot off the pedal even though he had set himself the massive challenge of cementing his place at Stade Toulousain where he had just signed a four-year contract. According to French coach Marc Lièvremont, out of all of the young players he had tried out since 2008, Picamoles was the one who was “the furthest from exploiting his potential”.

Louis Picamoles, 1.92m and 112 kilos with thighs like tree trunks “had fallen into the magic potion when he was little.” Didier Nourault’s reference to Obelix says all there is to say on “Loulou’s” - as his teammates call him - brute force. His first coach for the senior team at Montpellier continues, “There aren’t many players like him in France, solid on their legs, someone you can play behind.” True. But since 2008 Picamoles has only won 17 caps for les Bleus, and only 8 in the starting line-up. He watched the 2010 Grand Slam and the November tests on television and his performances in the disastrous tour to South Africa and Argentina last June do not seem to have convinced the Tricolores staff who still expect as/so much of him.

Picamoles, in direct competition for his position in the French team with the legends Imanol Harinordoquy (69 caps since 2002) and Julien Bonnaire (61 caps since 2004), as well as Sébastien Chabal (62 caps since 2000), and with the South African Shaun Sowerby at club level for Toulouse, has not had an easy ride, it is true. But the second half of 2010-2011 showed a change in fortune. Now number one at Toulouse, the former Montpellier player (having arrived there aged 13 year from the Paris region) was in the starting line-up for the important matches (quarter and semi-finals of the European Cup, semi-final and final of the Top 14), reproducing the form he had not shown since the famous November 2009 test match. In the 2010 European Cup win, he had been a back-up. In 2011 for the European Cup campaign and the Brennus Shield victory (against his former teammates at Montpellier) he was often the spearhead, a fact not overlooked by Marc Lièvremont. Picamoles was duly picked for the World Cup.

This was a surprise - but not down to a lucky break. In 2008, a stroke of luck in the injury to Elvis Vermeulen had opened the door to the French team. Picamoles had even thought that it was a prank when the Fédération’s secretary called him on his 22nd birthday to announce the news. Later, in his first appearance in the starting line-up against England, he would form alongside 19-year-old Morgan Parra and 21-year-old François Trinh-Duc one of the youngest 8-9-10 combinations in les Bleus’ history. In 2011 Picamoles worked hard for his World Cup selection but there still remains a lot to be done, even with Chabal dropped and Harinordoquy and Bonnaire being almost exclusively considered as flankers. A young but extremely explosive troublemaker from Biarritz by the name of Raphael Lafakia has recently come on to the international scene and has also been selected by Marc Lièvremont who was not short of praise for the newcomer at the announcement of the squad on 11 May.

Picamoles has always developed in fits and starts, as the two and a half years that separate his first appearance as a professional for Montpellier in October 2004, and him becoming a first team regular in 2007, testifies.  But 2011 seems to have marked the start of a more consistent period.