Yoann HUGET

Biog of Yoann HUGET :

Of the surprise selections for the November 2010 tests, Yoann Huget was perhaps the least surprising as he had such a superb season for Bayonne this season (2010-2011), ever present, breaking tackles almost at will. The 23-year-old winger from the Ariège region’s rise to prominence is reminiscent of that of another winger, Vincent Clerc. Huget first played for Pamiers, and then Toulouse (seven matches for the first team between 2003 and 2006) before moving to Agen in the Pro D2 to get more game-time and experience (2008-2010, 53 matches and 16 tries, 14 in his first season) and finally signing for Bayonne this season in the Top 14. Huget, like Clerc, has risen from the second division to international rugby in the space of a few months. In 2002 Clerc, newly arrived at Toulouse from Grenoble, started against South Africa after only seven matches in the Top 16 and two in European competition, and having scored six tries.

Huget did not manage to equal his predecessor’s feat, who scored a try on his debut (Clerc, surprisingly, was not selected for the November 2010). But Lièvremont sees something in Huget, and of the new caps he was the only one to be kept back for the two big games against Argentina and Australia and the only one to earn two starts for his first two caps. The adventure continued in 2011 despite an obvious lack of experience at this level. The young man, who has played at all international levels from Under-18s upwards and passed over the opportunity to play for Stade Français so as not to be distracted by the pleasures of the capital city, opting instead for the banks of the river Nive, was picked on the right wing by Marc Lièvremont for the first four matches of the Six Nations tournament before taking his place on the bench for the final game. Huget (seven selections out of a possible 8 in 2010-2011) was a logical selection selected for the World Cup.  And although he has still to score his first international try, he has scored 12 in 21 matches for Aviron Bayonnais making him the second-highest try-scorer in the 2010-2011 Top 14 behind Maxime Médard.

But on 4 August something happened that would change the course of Huget’s short career. The AFLD (France’s anti-doping agency) announced that Huget had failed to comply with procedures on three occasions* (two no-shows and misinformation about his whereabouts), the equivalent - according to the rules - of controlling positive. Huget was immediately dropped from the squad. On 19 August, faced with this “act of negligence” as Huget called it, the FFR suspended him for three months, the legal minimum (the maximum can be as high as 24 months). Huget will miss out on the World Cup as well as the start of the Top 14 season with his club. The AFLD can still appeal if it feels that the sentence is not heavy enough.  Whatever happens, Huget’s career will now be tainted by the whiff of drugs.

* anti-doping regulations allow permanent spot-checks to be carried out thanks to information on their whereabouts provided by the athletes themselves (requirement: a minimum of one hour per day).