Antoine Chalus-Cercy

Antoine Chalus-Cercy made his first appearance in professional rugby off the bench against Leinster, in the second round of the Champions Cup. Not many players get handed that particular introduction.

Flanker at Clermont, 1.79m and 95kg, born on 17 January 2005, and he captains the club’s espoirs side.

He had already been named on a Top 14 bench earlier that season, in a match where Christophe Urios picked a strong starting fifteen — Irae Simone at fly-half for the first time since joining the club — and a deliberately young set of replacements.

On 21 April 2025 Clermont announced a three-year extension: one more season on an academy contract, then two as a professional. Extending the espoirs captain is a statement about where a club thinks its next back row is coming from.

At 1.79m he is small for a modern blindside and will most likely be an openside, which fits a squad where the heavy carrying is done by Marcos Kremer and Selevasio Tolofua.

Beyond that the record is thin, and this profile is not going to fill the gap with invention. Nobody has published an account of his youth club or his age-grade honours. It gets updated as he plays.