Romain Briatte

French flanker Romain Briatte, born on 18 February 1993, is an experienced back-row forward who has carved out a long career in the Top 14 and now plies his trade with Stade Francais Paris. A veteran of the French club game, Briatte brings to the Stade Francais pack the kind of accumulated nous and physical edge that only sustained top-flight rugby can produce over the course of a long professional career. His game is anchored by his work at the breakdown and his ability to read the contact area, where his timing over the ball and competitive instinct generate slow ball and turnovers for his side. He is a durable defender, comfortable absorbing repeated collisions, and a willing carrier in tight channels when his pack is looking to set a platform from which the backs can play. Operating in one of European rugby's most demanding domestic competitions, Briatte's reliability has been the foundation of his long Top 14 career. At Stade Francais, he offers his coaches a known quantity in selection: a flanker who understands the rhythms of the French league, performs the unglamorous work consistently and contributes the experienced voice forward packs need across a marathon season.