Melvyn Jaminet

Melvyn Jaminet won his second cap in Australia in July 2021 and scored 23 of France’s 28 points in a two-point win, without missing a kick. He had been playing second-division rugby three weeks earlier. He passed 100 points for France in eight matches.

Full-back at Toulon, 1.80m and 80kg, and 27 years old.

Born in Hyères, he went through the Toulon rugby school and was not kept on in 2015. Solliès-Pont and Hyères Carqueiranne La Crau followed, then the Perpignan academy in 2018. A Pro D2 title followed in 2021, with nine tries and 294 points, and he was voted both the revelation and the best player in the division.

The autumn of 2021 was the peak. He started all three Tests, kicked 20 points without a miss, was man of the match against Argentina, and played in France’s first win over New Zealand since 2009. He was an automatic starter through the 2022 Grand Slam and finished second in the tournament’s scoring with 54 points.

Toulouse signed him and it did not work. An ankle injury in October 2022 let Thomas Ramos take the shirt in club and country, and he played eight minutes of the 2023 Six Nations. He scored two tries at that year’s World Cup as a replacement, and signed for Toulon to 2028 in November 2023.

On 7 July 2024, the day after playing in a France win in Argentina, the federation excluded him from the squad for racist remarks. His club backed the sanction and suspended him for thirty-four weeks without beginning dismissal proceedings.

In January 2025 L’Équipe reported that Stade Toulousain had used an illegal arrangement to fund his 2022 transfer while he was still under contract at Perpignan, circumventing the Top 14 salary regulations.