Jean-Baptiste Élissalde (born 23 November 1977 in La Rochelle, France) is a former French rugby union player, playing either as a scrum-half or as a fly-half, and current backs coach of the Stade Toulousain.
| JB Elissalde (Stade Toulousain), august 2008 | |||
| Date of birth | 23 November 1977 | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Place of birth | La Rochelle | ||
| Height | 1.72m (5ft 8in) | ||
| Weight | 73 kg (11 st 7 lb) | ||
| Notable relative(s) | *Laurent Bidart (maternal grandfather, international) *Arnaud Élissalde (paternal grandfather, player and coach) *Jean-Pierre Élissalde (father, international player & coach) |
||
| Rugby union career | |||
| Playing career | |||
| Position | Scrum half, Fly-half | ||
| Professional / senior clubs | |||
| Years | Club / team | Caps | (points) |
| 1997–2002 2002–2010 |
Stade Rochelais Stade Toulousain |
||
| correct as of October 13, 2007. | |||
| National team(s) | |||
| Years | Club / team | Caps | (points) |
| 2000–2009 | France | 35 | (212) |
| correct as of 13 October 2007. | |||
Contents |
He is a third generation French international. His maternal grandfather Laurent Bidart and his father Jean-Pierre Élissalde both represented the French international team.[1] Élissalde began playing rugby with La Rochelle, where his father was a coach. He made his first appearance in the 1997-8 season. Élissalde then gained caps with the France U21 team.
He played for La Rochelle until 2002 then decided to go to Toulouse, where he initially had a hard time breaking into the senior squad, competing against Frédéric Michalak and Yann Delaigue. He was the first choice scrum-half at Toulouse and was competing with Biarritz Olympique's Dimitri Yachvili for the scrum-half shirt in the French national team. Élissalde was a member of the Toulouse teams that won the Heineken Cup three times in 2003, 2005 and 2010, and the Top 14 winning team of 2008.
He made his international debut against Scotland in the 2000 Six Nations. He was unable to force his way into the 2003 French World Cup squad. Élissalde bounced back from this disappointment with a strong showing in the 2004 Six Nations, scoring 36 points in his three starts, including a 24 point haul against Wales. The 2006 and 2007 Six Nations were successful for both Élissalde and France, with two championship successes and he was finally established ahead of Dimitri Yachvili in the French squad.
Élissalde went to the 2007 World Cup in good form, but was left on the bench for the opener against Argentina. Following a terrible display by his replacement Pierre Mignoni, he was restored as the French made it to the semi finals. He scored a try in an 87-10 thrashing against Namibia. He kicked the winning conversion in the quarter final against New Zealand, a game which France won 20–18. Élissalde was limited to three appearances in the Six Nations in 2008, including the championship deciding loss to Wales in Cardiff. He played his last Test in November 2008 against the Pacific Islands. He gained 35 caps for France.
Élissalde was selected to play for the Barbarians in summer 2010 alongside club team mates Cédric Heymans and Census Johnston. He played in tests against England and Ireland. Élissalde featured in both tests, scoring 6 points in a loss to England and 3 points in a victorious test against Ireland.
After winning the Heineken Cup in 2010 with Toulouse, Jean-Baptiste Élissalde announced his retirement from playing rugby with France and his club.[2] Élissalde took up a position with Toulouse as a backs coach, replacing Philippe Rougé-Thomas. He will work alongside head coach Guy Novès and forwards coach Yannick Bru.
In 2010, he briefly came out of retirement and was selected in the French Barbarians squad to play Tonga on 26 November. Élissalde started in the fly-half position and scored 3 points. The Barbarians lost 28-27.
|
|||||||||||
|
|||||||||||