Fabien Barcella (born 27 October 1983)
Scrum.com is a French former professional

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 played as a prop. He played for

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 ...

at international level, earning 20 caps between 2008 and 2011.

Domestic Clubs

Barcella played for

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 ...

before joining

Valence-d'Agen Valence (; oc, Valença d'Agen), also known as Valence-d'Agen, is a commune in the Tarn-et-Garonne department in the Occitanie region in southern France. Geography Valence is located from Agen, from Montauban, from Cahors, 90 km fro ...

in 2005. He then went on to play for

Auch Auch (; oc, label= Gascon, Aush ) is a commune in southwestern France. Located in the region of Occitanie, it is the capital of the Gers department. Auch is the historical capital of Gascony. Geography Localization Hydrography The Riv ...

between 2006 and 2008. In 2008 he joined

Biarritz Olympique Biarritz Olympique Pays Basque (; ), usually known simply as Biarritz, is a French professional rugby union team based in the Basque city of Biarritz, Nouvelle-Aquitaine which competes in the Pro D2, the second division of French rugby. Biarritz p ...

where he made his

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 ...

debut.

International Selection

In 2008 French coach Marc Lievremont sprung a surprise when he called up Barcella 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 ...

match against

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

at the

Stade de France The Stade de France (, ) is the national stadium of France, located just north of Paris in the commune of Saint-Denis. Its seating capacity of 80,698 makes it the sixth-largest stadium in Europe. The stadium is used by the France national foot ...

. He was also called up to the

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

game a week later. He featured again in the Autumn 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 ...

. During the 2009 Six Nations Championship, he was in competition with Sale prop

Lionel Faure Lionel Faure (born 26 November 1977 in France) is a rugby union player for ASM Clermont Auvergne, Clermont Auvergne in the Top 14. Faure plays as a Rugby union positions#1. Loosehead prop .26 3. Tighthead prop, Loosehead prop, and previously playe ...

for the starting job, which he obtained, making big performances. He played at 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 ...

squad 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 ...

. He was later called for test matches against

and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

in June, where he made a number of standout performances. Barcella is often seen as one of the best loose head props in the world, his ability to destroy his opposite number in the scrum and cause havoc around the pitch with his brute aggression often sets him apart from his peers.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barcella, Fabien Sportspeople from Agen Rugby union players from Nouvelle-Aquitaine Living people 1983 births French rugby union players Rugby union props Stade Toulousain players Biarritz Olympique players RC Toulon players French sportspeople of Italian descent France international rugby union players 2011 Rugby World Cup players