Francisco Fernandes Moreira (born 6 September 1985) is a Portuguese rugby union player. He plays as a prop. He was born and raised in

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 ...

, but is capped by

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

Club career

He first played for AS Soustons. He moved to

US Tyrosse The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, where he would play from 2005/06 to 2010/11, first at the

Pro D2 Rugby Pro D2, also known as Pro D2 is the second tier of rugby union club competition division in France. It is operated by Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR) which also runs the division directly above, the first division Top 14. Rugby Pro D2 was in ...

, and after the first season at the Fédérale 1. He moved to

AS Béziers Hérault Association Sportive Béziers Hérault ( oc, Associacion Esportiva de Besièrs Erau), often referred to by rugby media simply by its location of Béziers, is a French rugby union club currently playing in the second level of the country's profess ...

at 2011/12, at

, his first professional team, where he has been playing since then. He reached the mark of 250 games at the

in 2021.

International career

Fernandes has 32 caps for

, with 2 tries scored, 10 points on aggregate, since his debut at the 14-10 loss to

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

, at 6 February 2010, in

Sochi Sochi ( rus, Со́чи, p=ˈsotɕɪ, a=Ru-Сочи.ogg) is the largest resort city in Russia. The city is situated on the Sochi River, along the Black Sea in Southern Russia, with a population of 466,078 residents, up to 600,000 residents in ...

, for the

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 (IRB) selected New Zealand as the host country in preference to Japan and South Af ...

qualifyings, when he was 24 years old. He has been playing more regularly for the Portuguese side since 2020, where he is currently the oldest player, at 38 years old.Francisco Fernandes International Statistics
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fernandes, Francisco 1985 births Living people Portuguese rugby union players Portugal international rugby union players French rugby union players French people of Portuguese descent Rugby union props AS Béziers Hérault players 2023 Rugby World Cup players