Jean-Luc Sadourny (born 26 August 1966 in

Toulouse Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...

) is a former French rugby union footballer and a current coach. He played as a fullback. He was nicknamed ''The Old Woman'' (''La Vieille'') and he is generally considered one of the best French players of his generation, a fair successor to

Serge Blanco Serge Blanco (born 31 August 1958) is a former 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 ...

in his position. Sadourny played all his career at

US Colomiers Union Sportive Colomiers Rugby or Rugby Colomiers is a French rugby union club currently competing in Pro D2, the second level of the French rugby pyramid. They had been relegated from Pro D2 after finishing last in the 2006–07 season, but ...

, which is based in

Colomiers Colomiers (; ; Languedocien dialect: ''Colomièrs'') is a commune in the Haute-Garonne department in the Occitania region in Southwestern France. With a population of 39,968 as of 2019, it is the largest suburb of the city of Toulouse, to which ...

, a suburb of Toulouse. His best result was the 2nd place in the France

Top 14 The Top 14 () is a professional rugby union club competition that is played in France. Created in 1892, the Top 14 is at the top of the national league system operated by the National Rugby League (France), France National Rugby League, also ...

in 2000. He had 71 caps 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 ...

, from 1991 to 2001. He scored 15 tries and 4 drop goals, in an aggregate of 86 points, during his international career. The French fullback was selected for the

1991 Rugby World Cup The 1991 Rugby World Cup () was the second edition of the Rugby World Cup, and was jointly hosted by England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland and France: at the time, the five European countries who participated in the Six Nations Championship, Five Na ...

, playing a single match, and for the

1995 Rugby World Cup The 1995 Rugby World Cup (), was the third Rugby World Cup. It was hosted and won by South Africa, and was the first Rugby World Cup in which every match was held in one country. The World Cup was the first major sporting event to take place in ...

, playing in all the five matches. He helped France to reach the 3rd place in this event. He won the Five Nations twice, with grand slams, in 1997 and 1998. Sadourny is also remembered for scoring the famous "try from the end of the world" against the

All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks, is the representative men's national team in the sport of rugby union for the nation of New Zealand, which is considered the country's national sport. Famed for th ...

in 1994. In the second and final Test of France's tour of New Zealand, France were trailing with about 3 minutes to play and were pinned deep in their own end by a tactical kick. They counter-attacked down the field, with the ball touched by nine different French players before Sadourny touched down to give ''Les Bleus'' the points that secured a 23-20 win and a 2–0 series win. After retiring as a player, Sadourny entered the coaching ranks at Colomiers. He left to take over the reins at

Blagnac Blagnac (; ) is a Communes of France, commune of the greater Toulouse area in the Haute-Garonne Departments of France, department in southwestern France. The city hosts the aviation museum Aeroscopia. It is the third-largest suburb of the city o ...

for the 2007–08 season, leading them to an appearance in the

Fédérale 1 The championnat de France de rugby à XV de 1re division fédérale (), a.k.a. Fédérale 1 (), is a French rugby union club competition, it is the elite of amateur rugby in France. The competition has been organised by the Fédération Français ...

final, where they lost to his former club Colomiers. As is standard practice in France, both finalists earned promotion to

Rugby Pro D2 The Pro D2 is the second tier of rugby union club competition division in France. It is operated by Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR) which also runs the division directly above, the first division Top 14. Rugby Pro D2 was introduced in 2000. It ...

for the 2008–09 season. However, Sadourny chose not to stay with Blagnac, moving to

Fédérale 3 Fédérale 3 is the seventh division of rugby union in France. The competition involves 226 clubs in 21 pools of 8, and winners can progress up into higher division of competition. The competition above Fédérale 3 is Fédérale 2 and above that, ...

club Stade Saint-Gaudinois for 2008–09, where he currently remains. In 2010, Sadourny opened his own restaurant, the Sadourny Café, in Colomiers.

External links

Jean-Luc Sadourny International Matches
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sadourny, Jean-Luc 1966 births Living people Colomiers Rugby players French rugby union players 20th-century French sportsmen French rugby union coaches Rugby union fullbacks France international rugby union players Rugby union players from Toulouse 1991 Rugby World Cup players 1995 Rugby World Cup players