Gaël Tallec (born 15 August 1976) is a French former professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

and

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s. He played representative rugby league for

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

at the 1995 World Cup and 2000 World Cup.

Playing career

Tallec was transferred from the

Lézignan Sangliers Lézignan may refer to: In geography: * Lézignan, Hautes-Pyrénées, a commune in the Hautes-Pyrénées department, France * Lézignan-Corbières, a commune in the Aude department, France * Lézignan-la-Cèbe, a commune in the Hérault departme ...

to the

Wigan Warriors The Wigan Warriors is an English professional rugby league club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester. The club competes in the Super League, the top tier of the British rugby league system. Formed in 1872, the club is a founding member of the Ru ...

in 1995 and played for them for three seasons, appearing in thirty matches. He played in

' 44-14 victory over St. Helens in the Premiership Final during

Super League I The year 1996's Stones Bitter Super League I was the official name for the 102nd season of top-level rugby league football, and the first year of Europe's new championship: Super League. It is also the first season of rugby league to be played ...

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and is the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,197, it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after W ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

on Sunday 8 September 1996. The

Castleford Tigers The Castleford Tigers are a professional rugby league club in Castleford, West Yorkshire, England. They play their home games at Wheldon Road (currently known as the Mend-A-Hose Jungle for sponsorship reasons) and compete in the Super League, t ...

signed him from Wigan Warriors on 26 January 1998, where he played for them forty-six times over two years. He finished his

Super League Super League (also known as the Betfred Super League for sponsorship reasons, and legally Super League Europe Ltd.) is a professional rugby league competition, and the highest level of the British rugby league system, which consists of twelve t ...

career with Halifax in 2000, where he played in twenty-four matches. Tallec switched codes and joined

RC Toulonnais Rugby Club Toulonnais (), also referred to as Rugby Club Toulon or simply Toulon, is a French professional rugby union club based in Toulon and competing in the Top 14. Located on the French Riviera, in the Provence region, the club plays its h ...

in late 2001.

International career

Tallec first played for

in 1995 at the

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

. He then competed at the 1996 European Championship for France, scoring a try in their June defeat by

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

. He was one of several players to remain in the French squad for the 2000 World Cup and he played in four matches during the tournament. Tallec toured New Zealand and Papua New Guinea in June–July 2001 before he switched codes.Tour Match (Huntly)
''New Zealand Herald'', 13 June 2001

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tallec, Gael 1976 births Living people Castleford Tigers players Catalans Dragons players France national rugby league team players French rugby league players French rugby union players Halifax Panthers players Lézignan Sangliers players RC Toulon players Rugby league props Rugby league second-rows Wigan Warriors players