Josselin Bouhier

Josselin Bouhier played his first professional match in Durban. He came on for Mehdi Tlili against the Sharks in a Challenge Cup tie in December 2023, at twenty, in a game his club lost heavily. Very few French forwards make a debut eight thousand kilometres from home.

Flanker at Pau, 1.90m and 91kg, and 23 years old.

Born in Nantes, he started at five in 2008 with La Rochelle and spent fourteen years in that club’s junior system before moving to the Béarn in 2022 to finish his development. That is an unusually long time at one address in the modern French academy game, where players are moved young and often.

France have used him in youth development squads at both fifteen-a-side and sevens without giving him a full age-grade cap, and his club has used him in the Supersevens, which is where a lot of French back-rowers of his size get their first professional minutes.

His contract was extended by a season in June 2024 to June 2025, which is the length of deal a club offers a player it has not made up its mind about.

The honest summary is that there is not much record yet. One senior appearance, a sevens circuit, and a flanker’s build at 1.90m and 91kg that will need weight before it can hold a Top 14 back row.

What is in his favour is time. He is 23, at a club that has promoted a striking number of its own over the last three seasons, and in a position where the two men above him are 30 and over.