Fulgence Ouedraogo (born 21 July 1986) is a former French

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. He played the entirety of his 17 year career for

Montpellier Hérault RC Montpellier (, , ; oc, Montpelhièr ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the department of Hérault. In 2018, 290,053 people li ...

in the

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 ...

championship. His usual position was as a flanker. Ouedraogo started playing rugby at the age of six, meeting future teammate

François Trinh-Duc François Trinh-Duc (; born 11 November 1986) is a French rugby union player for Union Bordeaux Bègles in France's top division of rugby union, the Top 14. Trinh-Duc's regular position is at fly-half or inside centre. Biography Trinh-Duc was b ...

at the Pic-Saint-Loup rugby school near

Montpellier Montpellier (, , ; oc, Montpelhièr ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of ...

. They both entered the club's youth teams at "Cadet" level (U-13/14). The two are said to be inseparable friends. Ouedraogo and Trinh-Duc, together with fellow ''Montpellierains''

Louis Picamoles Louis Picamoles (born 5 February 1986) is a French rugby union player who plays for Montpellier Hérault RC in the Top 14. Picamoles's usual position is at number eight. Club career Picamoles began his club career at Montpellier in 1999 and play ...

and

Julien Tomas Julien Tomas (born 21 April 1985) is a French rugby union footballer. He plays as a Scrum-half (rugby union), scrum-half. Born in Montpellier, Julien Tomas currently plays for Montpellier Herault RC, Montpellier in the Top 14. He played for Fran ...

, are considered part of the young quartet of home-grown talents embodying the success of Montpellier's attempt at "shaking up the old order" of French rugby in the

Septimanie Septimania (french: Septimanie ; oc, Septimània ) is a historical region in modern-day Southern France. It referred to the western part of the Roman province of Gallia Narbonensis that passed to the control of the Visigoths in 462, when Septima ...

''terroir'' which had always been historical rival

Béziers Béziers (; oc, Besièrs) is a Subprefectures in France, subprefecture of the Hérault Departments of France, department in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie Regions of France, region of Southern France. Every August Béziers hos ...

's stronghold. Ouedraogo is the current captain of Montpellier, and was a key player in the club's outstanding 2010–11 season. He fractured his hand in the 26–25 semi-final win, causing him to miss the final, which was won by

Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Par ...

International career

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 ...

's coach

Bernard Laporte Bernard Laporte (born 1 July 1964) is a rugby player, coach and former French Secretary of State for Sport. From 1999 to 2007, Laporte was the head coach of the France national team. In 2011, he became the head coach at Toulon, after Philippe Sa ...

acknowledged Ouedraogo's outstanding club form by including him in

's mid-year Test squad for a two-game series against the

All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks ( mi, Ōpango), represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 1987 ...

in New Zealand in 2007. Ouedraogo made his international debut as a replacement in the second test in

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

, but ended up not making the cut for the

2007 Rugby World Cup The 2007 Rugby World Cup was the sixth Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. Twenty nations competed for the Webb Ellis Cup in the tournament, which was hosted by France from 7 September to 2 ...

squad. He was later called up by new coach

Marc Lièvremont Marc Lièvremont (born 28 October 1968) is a former rugby union footballer and was the head coach of the French national rugby union team. He played as a back-row forward for France, gaining 25 caps from 1995 to 1999, and was selected in France's ...

for the

2008 Six Nations Championship The 2008 Six Nations Championship, known as the 2008 RBS 6 Nations because of sponsorship by the Royal Bank of Scotland, was the ninth series of the rugby union Six Nations Championship, the 114th series of the international championship. Fifteen ...

. Ouedraogo was named in France's squad 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 ...

. He was an unused replacement as New Zealand beat France in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

. Ouedraogo was selected by new 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 ...

in the initial 30-man squad for the

2012 Six Nations Championship The 2012 Six Nations Championship, known as the 2012 RBS 6 Nations due to the tournament's sponsorship by the Royal Bank of Scotland, was the 13th series of the Six Nations Championship. The annual northern hemisphere rugby union championship was ...

, but was not chosen for the first two matches. He was later selected for France's 2012 Autumn Internationals, and was in the starting line-up for all three test matches.

International tries

Personal

Ouedraogo is a cousin of the famous

MMA Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, incorp ...

fighter and long-time

UFC The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Zuffa, a wholly owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. It is the largest MMA ...

veteran

Cheick Kongo Cheick Kongo is a French heavyweight Mixed Martial artist and former Kickboxer who fights in Bellator MMA. A professional MMA competitor since 2001, he has also competed for the Ultimate Fighting Championship. As of May 10, 2022, he is #4 in the ...

. He has the initials of his sister, mother and brother (MBG) tattooed on his left shoulder in

hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...

References

External links

* *
RBS 6 Nations profile

at L'Equipe.fr * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ouedraogo, Fulgence 1986 births French rugby union players Burkinabé emigrants to France Sportspeople from Ouagadougou Living people Rugby union flankers Montpellier Hérault Rugby players France international rugby union players 21st-century Burkinabé people Sportspeople from Montpellier Black French sportspeople