Charles Ollivon (born 11 May 1993) is a French professional

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

player who plays as a flanker for

Top 14 The Top 14 () is a professional rugby union club competition that is played in France. Created in 1892, the Top 14 is at the top of the national league system operated by the French National Rugby League, also known by its French initialism o ...

club

Toulon Toulon (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Tolon , , ) is a city on the French Riviera and a large port on the Mediterranean coast, with a major naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, and the Provence province, Toulon is th ...

and the France national team.

Club career

Ollivon started his rugby career in the Academy Bayonne side at the age of 16, before being promoted to the main side in 2012 at the age of 19. During the

2012–13 Top 14 season The 2012–13 Top 14 competition was a French domestic rugby union club competition operated by the Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR). Two new teams from the 2011–12 Pro D2 season were promoted to Top 14 this year, Grenoble and Stade Montois in pl ...

, Charles made his professional debut against Bordeaux Bègles on 30 March 2013, coming of the bench. He could have played in more matches that season, but a shoulder injury required him to have surgery in April 2013. The following season, he played in 9 matches, making his run on debut on 4 September 2013 in a 55–0 defeat to Clermont. However, in January 2014 he suffered from another injury which saw him miss most of the season. He returned to the team in late March, but was brought slowly into the team, making several appearances off the bench. During the 2014–15 Top 14 season, he started in almost every match of the season, putting in regular good performances at the back of the pack (Number 8).

International career

His strong ball carrying and break down work was recognized by French coach

Philippe Saint-André Philippe Georges Saint-André (; born 19 April 1967) is a former French rugby union footballer and currently the manager of Top 14 side Montpellier. He earned 69 test caps for France between 1990 and 1997. His preferred position was wing but h ...

, and therefore was named in his squad for the 2014 end-of-year rugby union internationals. He made his debut for France on 8 November 2014 against

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

off the bench. In January 2015 he was named in the

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

31-man squad for the

2015 Six Nations Championship The 2015 Six Nations Championship, known as the 2015 RBS 6 Nations because of the tournament's sponsorship by the Royal Bank of Scotland, was the 16th series of the Six Nations Championship, the annual rugby union tournament. It was contested b ...

by coach Saint-André. Ollivon made a comeback from a series of injuries in 2019, earning a spot in France's squad for the

2019 Rugby World Cup The 2019 Rugby World Cup was the ninth edition of the Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's rugby union teams. It was hosted in Japan from 20 September to 2 November in 12 venues all across the country. The opening match ...

. He went on to start against Argentina and Tonga during the pool stages, also starting in the quarter-finals, against Wales. Ollivon scored a try against Wales, but France went on to lose 19-20 after a red card to Sebastien Vahaamahina. Ollivon was announced as the new captain of the French men's national rugby team in January 2020 by coach

Fabien Galthié Fabien Galthié (; born 20 March 1969) is a French rugby union coach and former player, he is currently the head coach of the French national team. His usual position was at scrum-half. He played much of his club rugby for Colomiers, and later ...

, following the retirement of previous captain

Guilhem Guirado Guilhem Guirado (born 17 June 1986) is a former French rugby union player. During his 17-year career, he played for Perpignan, Toulon, and Montpellier. Guirado was also the captain of France from 2016 to 2019. Career Guirado first appeared on t ...

. In his first game as captain, Charles scored 2 tries against England and led them to a 24-17 victory.

Career statistics

List of international tries

References

External links

France profile
at FFR * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ollivon, Charles 1993 births Living people French rugby union players Rugby union flankers Sportspeople from Pyrénées-Atlantiques Rugby union players from Nouvelle-Aquitaine France international rugby union players Aviron Bayonnais players RC Toulon players People from Labourd