Maxime Médard (born 16 November 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 who plays his club rugby for French club

Stade Toulousain Stade Toulousain () ( oc, Estadi Tolosenc), also referred to as Toulouse, is a professional rugby union club based in Toulouse, France. They compete in the Top 14, France's top division of rugby, and the European Rugby Champions Cup. Toulou ...

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 ...

and

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 ...

internationally. He can play as both a full-back and on the

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is expres ...

and is described by assistant national team coach

Émile Ntamack Émile "Milou" Ntamack (born 25 June 1970) is a French former rugby union footballer. He played professionally for Stade Toulousain and France, winning 46 caps. Ntamack made his French debut against Wales during the 1994 Five Nations Championship ...

as an "incredible talent" that, during the 2010–11 season, was finally "realizing his potential". Medard is a two-time winner of the

Heineken Cup The European Rugby Champions Cup (known as the Heineken Champions Cup for sponsorship reasons) is an annual rugby union tournament organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the top-tier competition for clubs who compete in a pre ...

and, in 2008, won the Top 14 for the first time. Also referred to as 'The French Wolverine.'

Career

Club

Médard began his rugby union career playing for local club

Blagnac Blagnac (; oc, Blanhac) is a commune in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern France. The city hosts the aviation museum Aeroscopia. It is the third-largest suburb of the city of Toulouse, although governed by a separate council, and is ...

as a youth. His father, Alain, had previously played for the club in the 1980s alongside his uncle Francis. In 2000, he joined Stade Toulousain and spent four years developing. Médard achieved numerous honours as a youth winning the ''Gaudermen Challenge'' in three straight years from 2001–2003. In 2004, he made his debut with the senior team and, in the following year, turned professional. In his first year as a professional, Médard was a member of the Toulousain team that won the

2004–05 Heineken Cup The 2004–05 Heineken Cup was the tenth edition of the Heineken Cup. Competing teams, from England national rugby union team, England, France national rugby union team, France, Ireland national rugby union team, Ireland, Italy national rugby unio ...

. Toulouse defeated league rivals

Stade Français Stade Français Paris Rugby () is a French professional rugby union club based in the 16th arrondissement of Paris. The club plays in the Top 14 domestic league in France and is one of the most successful French clubs of the modern era. The ...

18–12 in the final match, though Médard was not part of the team that won the final. Médard burst onto the scene domestically in the 2007–08 season primarily due to injuries to

Vincent Clerc Vincent Clerc (born 7 May 1981) is a former French rugby union player who played on the wing. Birth and early career Born in the city of Échirolles, suburb of the south of Grenoble (Isère), Clerc first played rugby at FC Grenoble, helping them ...

and

Clément Poitrenaud Clément Poitrenaud (born 20 May 1982 in Castres, Tarn) is a former French rugby union footballer. His usual position is at fullback but he also plays at centre. He most recently played for South African side the in Super Rugby, having represen ...

. He featured regularly in the team that won the

that season. For his efforts, he was declared the Revelation of the Year by

Ligue Nationale de Rugby The French National Rugby League (french: Ligue Nationale de Rugby), known as the LNR, manages the professional rugby sector in France, by delegation of the Ministry of Youth and Sports and the French Rugby Federation. LNR * organises, manages and ...

(LNR). He started the 2010 Heineken Cup Final as Toulouse defeated Biarritz. On 5 September 2010, Médard scored the fastest try in league history since 2005 after scoring after 18 seconds against

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 ...

International

Prior to playing for the senior team, Médard was a regular international at youth level. In 2005, he was a member of the under-21 team that played at the

2005 Under 21 Rugby World Championship The 2005 Under-21 Rugby World Championship took place in Argentina between 9 June and 25 June 2005. The 2005 championship was the fourth contested. This championship saw South Africa win the final over Australia 24–20. Venues Participant ...

in Argentina. In the ensuing season, Médard won the 2006 edition of the competition that was played on home soil. He earned his first senior cap

in November 2008 during a test series match 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 ...

. He appeared in subsequent test matches against the

Pacific Islanders Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subregions of Ocea ...

and 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 ...

. Médard's positive play within the team resulted in the player earning selection to the team that participated in the

2009 Six Nations The 2009 Six Nations Championship, known as the RBS 6 Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 10th Six Nations Championship, and the 115th international championship, an annual rugby union competition contested by the six major European national ...

Championship. In June 2009, Médard scored the late try that sealed France's first victory over the All Blacks in

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 ...

since 1994. Médard announced his retirement from rugby in 2022.

International Tries

Honours

Club

: 2007–08,

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

, 2011–12, 2018–19,

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

International

Under 21 Rugby World Championship The IRB Under 21 Rugby World Cup was the premier tournament for male rugby union players under the age of 21, organised by the sports governing body the International Rugby Board (IRB) annually from 2002 through 2006. Both it and the Under 19 Rugby ...

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

References

External links

Stade Toulousain profile page

ERC Rugby Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Medard, Maxime 1986 births Living people French rugby union players H Rugby union wings Rugby union fullbacks France international rugby union players Rugby union players from Toulouse