He is one of the players who can score points during the preparation for the World Cup, but who is Louis Bielle-Biarrey.
Like Ethan Dumortier thrown into the deep end of the XV of France on the occasion of the 6 Nations Tournament, Louis Bielle-Biarrey should celebrate his very first selection with the French rugby team during the very first Les Bleus preparation match against Scotland, this Saturday, August 5th. Not retained for the U20 World Cup in South Africa where France was once again crowned, the Girondin three-quarters was left at the disposal of Fabien Galthié for the preparation for the World Cup and must now seize his chance.
“I had a little twinge in the heart on the first two, three days, explained Louis Bielle-Biarrey. But I have the chance to do the preparation for a World Cup which is perhaps, already, the most big event in my career, since it’s in France. I quickly moved on.”
Louis Bielle-Biarrey began his career in Grenoble with the RC Seyssins club. “It was my parents who put me in rugby at the age of 5. I got hooked right away and I never stopped”, explained the young Louis in an interview with PPA Sport. After this first training, Louis Bielle-Biarrey joined the Grenoble club from the age of 13 until he was 18, from 2016 to 2021. Considered a small “nugget”, the training opener signed in Bordeaux- Bègles in 2021 and launched his professional career. Louis Bielle-Biarrey made his official debut with UBB in January 2022 against Brive playing 10 short minutes. A few days later, for his very first start as a professional, he scored three tries and was voted Man of the Match in the Champions Cup against the Scarlets. “I wanted to take him out so that he would receive a standing ovation from the public, but he didn’t listen,” Christophe Urios explained after the match. “It was my first professional game in Bordeaux and my first European appearance, so it was really amazing. I was very proud and very happy at that moment. My parents, my grandparents and my brother were there. I couldn’t believe it, I thought it was a dream.”
In the summer of 2021, just before signing with Bordeaux, Louis Bielle-Biarrey made his debut for the France Under-20 team on the second day of the 2021 Six Nations Under-20 Tournament against Italy. He played a total of two other matches and scored a try against Ireland. In total, he will play 10 games with this French team before joining the group of 42 players of Fabien Galthié in the first team of the XV of France in order to prepare for the World Cup in France.
If at present we know Louis Bielle-Biarrey as a 3/4 wing, the player was entitled to a very versatile training and can play in almost all positions at the back, especially at the opening like his idol , Johnny Wilkinson. “We had two openers in the team and the coach asked me to change position because he thought it was better for me, he was right!, explained the player in the columns of Herald Scotland. At flyhalf you have a lot of balls but not a lot of good balls, now I have a lot of time to play, with more space. I like both but now I prefer the back position.”
