Lionel Nallet is a French rugby union

Rugby union

Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...

 player who currently plays at lock for Racing Métro 92 in the French Top 14 club competition and is a former captain of the France national team

France national rugby union team

The France national rugby union team represents France in rugby union. They compete annually against England, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales in the Six Nations Championship. They have won the championship outright sixteen times, shared it a further eight times, and have completed nine grand slams...

. He began his professional career with CS Bourgoin-Jallieu

CS Bourgoin-Jallieu

CS Bourgoin-Jallieu is a French rugby union club currently competing in the second level of the French league system in the Pro D2. The club have been runners-up in the French championship and the Challenge Yves du Manoir competitions, and have won the Challenge Cup.Founded in 1906 as "Club...

, playing there from 1998 to 2003 before moving to Castres Olympique

Castres Olympique

Castres Olympique is a French rugby union club located in the Midi-Pyrénées city of Castres and currently competing in the top level of the French league system.Founded in 1898, the club took its current name in 1906...

. Nallet moved from there to Racing in 2009.

Nallet made his international debut for France on 28 May 2000 in a test match against Romania

Romania national rugby union team

The Romania national rugby union team , nicknamed The Oaks , is the representative side of Romania in rugby union. Long considered one of the stronger European teams outside the Six Nations, they have participated in all six Rugby World Cups, and currently compete in the first division of the...

 at Bucharest

Bucharest

Bucharest is the capital municipality, cultural, industrial, and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at , and lies on the banks of the Dâmbovița River....

's Dinamo Stadion. 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 national rugby union team

The England national rugby union team represents England in rugby union. They compete in the annual Six Nations Championship with France, Ireland, Scotland, Italy, and Wales. They have won this championship on 26 occasions, 12 times winning the Grand Slam, making them the most successful team in...

 during the 2001 Six Nations Championship

2001 Six Nations Championship

The 2001 Six Nations Championship was the second series of the Six Nations Championship. Including the previous incarnations as the Home Nations and Five Nations, this was the hundred-and-seventh series of the northern hemisphere rugby union championship. The tournament was marred by an outbreak of...

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

South Africa national rugby union team

The South African national rugby union team are 2009 British and Irish Lions Series winners. They are currently ranked as the fourth best team in the IRB World Rankings and were named 2008 World Team of the Year at the prestigious Laureus World Sports Awards.Although South Africa was instrumental...

, the All Blacks, Australia

Australia national rugby union team

The Australian national rugby union team is the representative side of Australia in rugby union. The national team is nicknamed the Wallabies and competes annually with New Zealand and South Africa in the Tri-Nations Series, in which they also contest the Bledisloe Cup with New Zealand and the...

 and Fiji

Fiji national rugby union team

The Fiji national rugby union team is a member of the Pacific Islands Rugby Alliance formerly along with Samoa and Tonga. In 2009, Samoa announced their departure from the Pacific Islands Rugby Alliance, leaving just Fiji and Tonga. Fiji are ranked sixteenth in the world by the IRB as of 26...

.

In 2003 Nallet played in matches against Argentina

Argentina national rugby union team

The Argentina national rugby team, nicknamed Los Pumas, represents Argentina in international rugby union matches. The team, which plays in sky blue and white jerseys, is organised by the Argentine Rugby Union .Argentina played its first international rugby match in 1910 against a touring British...

 and the All Blacks. However, he was not included in the squad for the 2003 Rugby World Cup

2003 Rugby World Cup

The 2003 Rugby World Cup was the fifth Rugby World Cup and was won by England. Originally planned to be co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand, all games were shifted to Australia following a contractual dispute over ground signage rights between the New Zealand Rugby Football Union and Rugby World...

 in Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

 or in 2004. He played four times for France during November 2005. He was a part of France's 2006 Six Nations Championship

2006 Six Nations Championship

The 2006 RBS 6 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...

 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 Raphael Ibanez

Raphaël Ibanez

Raphaël Ibañez is a retired French rugby union footballer. A hooker, he was also a former captain of the France national team.-Club career:...

, 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

Rugby Pro D2, also known as Pro D2 is the second level of domestic club rugby union in France, below the first division, Top 14. The competition was introduced in 2000. There is relegation and promotion between both the Top 14 and Fédérale 1, the third-level competition...

 to the Top 14 after the club won the 2008–09 Championship

2008-09 Rugby Pro D2 season

The 2008–09 Rugby Pro D2 was the second-level French rugby union club competition, behind the Top 14, in the 2008–09 season. It ran alongside the 2008–09 Top 14 competition; both competitions were operated by the Ligue Nationale de Rugby ....

. He was joined at the club by the iconic Sébastien Chabal

Sebastien Chabal

Sébastien Chabal, born 8 December 1977 in Valence, Drôme, is a French rugby union rugby player. He has played number eight and lock professionally for the French team Bourgoin ; the English team Sale Sharks ; the French team Racing Métro 92 Paris ; and the French national side. He earned his first...

, who also signed a 3-year contract with the club.

External links

• RBS 6 Nations profile
• Lionel Nallet on statistics.scrum.com
• Lionel Nallet on lequipe.fr