Lionel Nallet (born 14 September 1976) 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 it ...

player. He played as a

lock Lock(s) may refer to: Common meanings *Lock and key, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance *Lock (water navigation), a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal Arts and entertainment * ''Lock ...

and is a former captain of the France national team. He began his professional career with CS Bourgoin-Jallieu, playing there from 1998 to 2003 before moving to Castres Olympique. Nallet moved from there to Racing in 2009 before finishing his career with

Lyon OU Lyon Olympique Universitaire or LOU is a French rugby union team based in Lyon that currently competes in the Top 14, the highest level of the country's professional league system, having been most recently promoted for the 2016–17 season af ...

between 2012 and 2015. Nallet made his international debut for France on 28 May 2000 in a test match against

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

's Dinamo Stadium. France won the match 67–20, with Nallet scoring a try on debut. He next played for his country the following year, in a match against

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

during the

2001 Six Nations Championship The 2001 Six Nations Championship was the second series of the rugby union Six Nations Championship, and the 107th international championship overall. The tournament was affected by an outbreak of the highly infectious livestock disease foot-and- ...

. Nallet made another five appearances for France that year, playing in test matches against the

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

, the

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

, Australia and Fiji. In 2003 Nallet played in matches against

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

and New Zealand. However, he was not included in the squad for the

2003 Rugby World Cup The 2003 Rugby World Cup was the fifth Rugby World Cup. Originally planned to be hosted by India, all games were shifted to Australia following a contractual dispute over ground signage rights between the Indian Rugby Union and Rugby World Cup ...

in Australia or in 2004. He played four times for France during November 2005. He was a part of France's

2006 Six Nations Championship The 2006 Six Nations Championship was the seventh series of the rugby union Six Nations Championship to be held since the competition expanded in 2000 to include Italy. Including the previous incarnations as the Home Nations and Five Nations, this ...

victory and was subsequently included in the national squad for the mid-year tests against Romania and the Springboks. In 2008, following the retirement of

Raphaël Ibañez Raphaël Ibañez (born 17 February 1973) is a retired French rugby union footballer. A hooker, he represented the France national team 98 times, and as captain 41 times. After a career in club rugby management, he became Team Manager for France ...

, he was named as captain of the French side. On 30 April 2009, it was announced that Nallet had signed a 3-year contract with Racing Métro, who were promoted from 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 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 ...

after the club won the 2008–09 Championship. He was joined at the club by the iconic

Sébastien Chabal Sébastien Chabal (born 8 December 1977) is a French former rugby union player. He played number eight and lock for Bourgoin (1998–2004), Sale Sharks (2004–2009), Racing Métro 92 Paris (2009 – February 2012), and for the French national ...

, who also signed a 3-year contract with the club. Lionel Nallet Racing Metro training 2012-03-13

References

External links

RBS 6 Nations profileLionel Nallet
on statistics.scrum.com

on lequipe.fr {{DEFAULTSORT:Nallet, Lionel 1976 births Living people Sportspeople from Bourg-en-Bresse French rugby union players Rugby union locks France international rugby union players CS Bourgoin-Jallieu players Castres Olympique players Racing 92 players Lyon OU players