He hung up his boots in June, with a Pro D2 shield as his final memory. Two months later, Fabrice Metz is lacing them up again.
He hung up his boots in June, with a Pro D2 shield as his final memory. Two months later, Fabrice Metz is lacing them up again.
According to L’Équipe, Stade Français have signed the lock to add depth in the second row before the Top 14 resumes. The Paris club were looking for another option in the position and went after a player who had officially ended his career at the end of last season, a few weeks after being crowned Pro D2 champion with Vannes.
Fifteen seasons, four clubs
Metz is 35. He started out at Racing 92 in 2011 and has played 303 professional matches since, in the Top 14, Pro D2 and European competition.
| Club | Period | Matches | of which Top 14 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Racing 92 | 2011-2015 | 67 | 58 |
| Oyonnax | 2015-2016 | 23 | 20 |
| Section Paloise | 2016-2024 | 168 | 145 |
| RC Vannes | 2024-2026 | 45 | 23 |
His eight seasons in Pau form the core of his career: 145 Top 14 matches and 23 in the Challenge Cup, peaking at 25 league appearances in 2016-2017, his first year in Béarn.
One try in fifteen years
This detail is worth a look. In those 303 matches, Fabrice Metz scored a single try, in the Challenge Cup with Pau in the 2019-2020 season. None in the Top 14, none in Pro D2, none in the Champions Cup.
His France career is on the same scale: one match on the 2016 summer tour, for four minutes of play.
A final season that did not look like an ending
Nothing in his recent statistics suggested he was about to stop. In 2024-2025, his first season at Vannes, he played 23 Top 14 matches, 22 of them as a starter, his highest number of league starts since 2016-2017. The following season, in Pro D2, he played 20 matches, starting 18, and finished with the title.
That profile of an available, regular starter is what Stade Français went looking for. The Parisians open their season on Saturday 5 September at 7pm at home to Perpignan.
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