Julien Saubade

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Julien Saubade (born 5 November 1983 in Bayonne) is a French rugby union footballer, currently playing for the Paris rugby club, Stade Français in the top level of French club rugby, the Top 14. His usual position is on the wing.

Saubade was originally playing with the Biarritz Olympique which had formed him, though he moved to US Dax, playing in the French second division, initially for the 2003 season, but he ended up staying there until July 2005, since he couldn't get the opportunity to play in Biarritz's first team. He was the second division's best scorer with 12 tries. The club didn't seem to be ready to trust him despite his selections in the French U-19 and then U-21 teams (alongside Julien Arias and Arnaud Marchois whom he was to join in Paris).

Therefore he moved to Paris to play for Stade Français, among the élite of French rugby. At the start, the transition from the Pro D2 to the Top 14 was quite hard for him, and Saubade made several unusual mistakes for such a promising player like him, notably one which made Paris' coach, Fabien Galthié, furious and which cost his team to lose a match in Montpellier. As a consequence, Saubade was advised to readapt through the Stade Français' Espoirs team for a while, to gain experience from the trainings with many of his international new teammates, to work physically, and then, thanks to some injuries among the starters he was given another chance to show his talent again and he seized it well to say the least.

During the 6 Nations and after, he played all the matches, and scored 6 tries. Saubade also played in his club's semi-final of the 2005-06 Top 14, which was eventually lost to Toulouse, 12 to 9 and in Heineken Cup matches. "Relaunched" in March, he had since then, scored 17 tries in 23 appearances.

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