Loann Goujon (; born 23 April 1989) is a 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 currently plays for

La Rochelle La Rochelle (, , ; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''La Rochéle''; oc, La Rochèla ) is a city on the west coast of France and a seaport on the Bay of Biscay, a part of the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Charente-Maritime department. With ...

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 ...

, normally playing at Flanker or Number 8.

Career

Goujon first started playing rugby in 2003 at Junior rugby level. From 2003 to 2005 he played for his local side RC Combronde, before playing for RC Vichy at the age of 16. At the age of 17 he was recruited by

Clermont Auvergne Association Sportive Montferrandaise Clermont Auvergne () is a French rugby union club from Clermont-Ferrand in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes that currently competes in Top 14, the top level of the French league system. Clermont are two times French ...

to play for the Junior side, and by the age of 19 he was promoted to the senior squad. Although he played for Clermont's second team between 2008 and 2011. During this time, he was selected for the France U20's team to play in the 2009 Six Nations Under 20s Championship. He played in all five games in what was France U20's first Championship title. He was later selected for the

2009 IRB Junior World Championship The 2009 IRB Junior World Championship (known as the 2009 IRB Toshiba Junior World Championship for sponsorship reasons) was the second annual international rugby union competition for Under 20 national teams, this competition replaces the now def ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, where he was part of the team that beat Wales U20's 68–13 to claim 5th place. For the

2011–12 Top 14 season The 2011–12 Top 14 competition was a French domestic rugby union club competition operated by the Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR). Home-and-away play began on August 26, 2011. Two new teams from the 2010–11 Rugby Pro D2 season were promoted to ...

, he was offered a full professional contract by

Vern Cotter Vern is a masculine given name, often a short form (hypocorism) of Vernon, Lavern or other names. People named Vern include: * Vernon Vern Bakalich (1929–2015), New Zealand rugby league player * Verdi Vern Barberis (1928–2005), Australian w ...

, and was made an official member of the Clermont senior side. He debuted professionally on the 17 September 2011 against Racing Métro in a 22–11 victory. In July 2012, he was loaned to

in 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 ...

, to gain some game time and experience. Surprisingly, he played in all but 2 matches in that season, making 23 starts. He remained with the club for the 2013–14 Rugby Pro D2 season, and was a key figure in the team that gained them promotion to the

for the 2014–15 season. Having put in strong ball carrying performances for La Rochelle, he was called up to the France national side 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

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 ...

. Although he was a late call-up, being added to the squad as injury cover for

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 ...

. He made his international debut off the bench against

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

in the opening week of the Six Nations, though he replaced captain

Thierry Dusautoir Thierry Dusautoir (; born 18 November 1981) is a French former rugby union player who last played for France at international level and Toulouse in the French Top 14 club competition. Dusautoir was considered a strong ball carrier and possessed i ...

on the 79th minute.

References

External links

ESPN Profile
1989 births Living people Sportspeople from Albertville Emlyon Business School alumni French rugby union players France international rugby union players Rugby union flankers {{France-rugbyunion-bio-stub