Fabien Pelous was born on 7 December 1973 and is a retired French rugby union footballer.
13 Facts About Fabien Pelous
2.
Fabien Pelous retired as the most-capped lock for any nation in rugby history, with 100 of his 118 France appearances at that position, a record later broken by South Africa's Victor Matfield.
3.
The son of a family of local farmers, Fabien Pelous was born in Toulouse and was introduced to rugby in Saverdun.
4.
Fabien Pelous made his test debut on 17 October 1995 against Romania.
5.
Fabien Pelous proved himself an inspirational captain for France after succeeding Fabien Galthie ahead of the 2004 RBS 6 Nations and enjoyed immediate success, leading Les Bleus to the Grand Slam in his first year and followed that up with a second-placed finish in 2005.
6.
Fabien Pelous missed the summer test matches in 2005 with a serious knee injury.
7.
Fabien Pelous was due to equal Philippe Sella's record of 111 caps for France in the opener of the 2007 Six Nations against Italy, but was ruled out of the side due to an ankle injury.
8.
Fabien Pelous finally earned his record-equalling 111th cap on 11 August 2007 at Twickenham against England, and took the record by himself a week later in Les Bleus' return match against England at Marseille.
9.
Fabien Pelous ended his international career after the 2007 Rugby World Cup with 118 caps, 42 of them as France captain.
10.
Fabien Pelous was the first French captain to have beaten Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.
11.
Fabien Pelous helped Toulouse win the European Cup twice, and the French Championship three times before retiring from the game in 2009.
12.
The night after the 2007 World Cup Final, Fabien Pelous was recognized at the IRB Awards, receiving the International Rugby Players' Association Special Merit Award.
13.
Fabien Pelous' name is the francization of pelos, which means "hairy" in the Occitan language.