Sébastien Tillous-Borde (born 29 April 1985) 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 scrum-half for his club rugby with

Toulon Toulon (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Tolon , , ) is a city on the French Riviera and a large port on the Mediterranean coast, with a major naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, and the Provence province, Toulon is th ...

after signing from

Castres Castres (; ''Castras'' in the Languedocian dialect of Occitan) is the sole subprefecture of the Tarn department in the Occitanie region in Southern France. It lies in the former province of Languedoc, although not in the former region of Lan ...

in 2011. After his retirement in 2018, he is now the backs coach for

Career

Tillous-Borde began his professional career in 2005 while playing for Biarritz 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 ...

. Haven been second or sometimes third and fourth choice in his position, first choice being held by

Dimitri Yachvili Dimitri Yachvili Markarian (born 19 September 1980, in Brive-la-Gaillarde, Corrèze) is a French former rugby union footballer who played as a scrum-half for Biarritz and France. He played for France from 2002 to 2012, earning 61 caps and scori ...

, he signed with

for the 2007–08 Top 14 season. He debuted for Castres on 27 October 2007 against Auch in what was a 25–12 victory. Cast went on to finish 5th that season, with Sébastien playing in 21 matches. In June 2008, he was selected for the France national side for the 2008 tour to Australia. Where he made his debut in the opening test on 28 June, coming on for Yachvili on the 60th minute. France lost 34–13. The following week he earned his first start, where he played almost the full match, being replaced on the 79th minute by Yachvili. He continued to play for France in 2009, but injury during the 2009–10 Top 14 season in October 2009, ruled him out for most of the season. He returned to action the following season, before signing to play for

in 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 ...

. Tillous-Borde made his Toulon debut on 27 August 2011 against one of his former clubs Biarritz, with Toulon winning 30–5. He helped guide Toulon to third in the regular season, making it all the way to the final against

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 Pa ...

, who were the victors that day, winning 18–12. He continued to develop into an attacking threat in the 2012–13 Top 14 season, again being a key figure on the park. He made a threatening half-back partnership with

Jonny Wilkinson Jonathan Peter Wilkinson, CBE (born 25 May 1979) is an English former rugby union player. A fly-half, he played for Newcastle Falcons and Toulon and represented England and the British & Irish Lions. He is particularly known for scoring the w ...

and both players guided Toulon to the Top 14 and the

2013 Heineken Cup Final The 2013 Heineken Cup Final was the final match of the 2012–13 Heineken Cup, the 18th season of Europe's top club rugby union competition. The match was played on 18 May 2013 in the Aviva Stadium in Dublin, Ireland, kicking off at 5 pm ( ...

. He was a key figure on the park during the Heineken Cup Final, beating Clermont 16–15 at the

Aviva Stadium Aviva Stadium (also known as Lansdowne Road) is a sports stadium located in Dublin, Ireland, with a capacity for 51,700 spectators (all seated). It is built on the site of the former Lansdowne Road Stadium, which was demolished in 2007, and ...

in Dublin. However, they lost the following week to Tillous-Borde's previous club Castres, losing 19–14.Castres upset Toulon for Top 14 glory
/ref> The following year, Tillous-Borde went on to retain the Heineken Cup Title, and win the 2013–14 Top 14 season title. His form was recognised and he returned to the French squad for the

2014 end-of-year rugby union internationals The 2014 end-of-year rugby tests, also known as the 2014 autumn internationals in the Northern Hemisphere, were international rugby union matches predominantly played between visiting Southern Hemisphere countries and European nations. Brazil, Cana ...

, where France beat Fiji and Australia, but lost to Argentina in the final week. Tillous-Borde started in all three matches, making a formidable half-back partnership with Clermont Fly Half Camille Lopez.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tillous-Borde, Sebastien Living people 1985 births France international rugby union players Rugby union scrum-halves RC Toulonnais players People from Oloron-Sainte-Marie Sportspeople from Pyrénées-Atlantiques