Vincent Clerc (born 7 May 1981) is a formerFrench professionalrugby union player who played on thewing.

Vincent Clerc

Date of birth	(1981-05-07)7 May 1981 (age 44)
Place of birth	Échirolles,France
Height	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Weight	90 kg (14 st 2 lb; 198 lb)
Rugby union career
Position(s) Wing Senior career Years Team Apps (Points) 1998–2002 Grenoble 315 (640) 2002–2016 Toulouse 13 (15) 2016–2018 Toulon () International career Years Team Apps (Points) 2002–2013 France 67 (170)34t
Medal record Men'sRugby union Representing France Rugby World Cup 2011 New Zealand Squad

Born in the city ofÉchirolles, suburb of the south ofGrenoble (Isère), Clerc first played rugby atFC Grenoble, helping them reach theTop 16 before moving toToulouse in 2002, where he played until 2016. Clerc earned his first cap forFrance on November 9, 2002 againstSouth Africa. Whilst at Toulouse Clerc won the Heineken Cup three times in2003,2005 and2010. In the 2003 final he scored Toulouse's try as they defeated Perpignan.^[1][2][3]

Clerc was left out of the French squad for the2006 Autumn Internationals, but was called up as a replacement forCédric Heymans for the match againstIreland during the2007 Six Nations Championship.^[4] In a closely contested match atCroke Park, Clerc scored a last-gasp try to snatch a 20–17 victory for France.^[5]

Clerc was picked for the2007 Rugby World Cup.

He scored 5 tries during the first two games of the2008 Six Nations Championship againstScotland and Ireland. In a post-match interview after the match against Ireland Clerc stated to the French TV channelFrance 2 that he "never would have been able to score a hat-trick ifShane Horgan had been playing." Horgan and Clerc have had a long rivalry and, unfortunately for Ireland, Horgan was unfit to play. In the 2007 RBS 6 Nations tournament Vincent scored a last gasp try against Ireland. In the last game of that series of games Vincent Clerc helped France to trounce Scotland to give them the title.

During the 2008 6 Nations, media attention focused on the final match of the tournament, where Clerc andShane Williams would play as opposite numbers. Both had scored five tries so far in the tournament, but ultimately the match, dubbed as the "Big battle of the little people" was won by Wales, with Williams scoring one final try in the competition.

Clerc ruptured the ligaments in his left knee while playing forStade Toulousain againstASM Clermont Auvergne in April 2008. He made his club comeback in December 2008, againstMont-de-Marsan, and was recalled to the national squad for the summer 2009 tests.

In 2010, he was selected in theFrench Barbarians squad to playTonga on November 26.

Clerc was selected in the squad for the2011 Rugby World Cup inNew Zealand, and was one of the stars of the tournament. He played every game for France and posed a constant threat on the right wing. He scored six tries for the tournament, three of them againstCanada, to finish the tournament as joint top try-scorer with England'sChris Ashton.^[6]

On November 17, 2012, againstArgentina inLille, Clerc scored two tries to take his overall international tally to 34 tries, overtakingPhilippe Saint-André to become France's second highest try scorer. France won 39–22. Clerc said after the match:

We got off to a bad start, which is a bad habit of ours. However, we fought back and turned it round after 15 minutes. We could have scored a few more tries but we will take this. Will I ever play again after passing Philippe's mark? I hope so but I will have to talk to him!^[7]

Clerc has been a consultant for the French television stationFrance Télévisions. Also, he has been involved with the Ronald McDonald Foundation's Parents' House charity, and since 2021 has owned his aMcDonald's branch in theCompans area ofToulouse in his home country of France.^[8]

• Heineken Cup:2002–03,2004–05,2009–10
• Top 14:2007–08,2010–11,2011–12

• Six Nations Championship:2004 (Grand Slam),2007,2010 (Grand Slam)

• Official website(in French)
• Vincent Clerc at ESPNscrum
• Vincent Clerc scores the match-winning try against Ireland, 2007 onYouTube