Pimienta retires: licence withdrawn, amateur level included

He was due to face Colomiers, his former club, on Thursday night in Pro D2. He will watch it from the stands.

A medical ban, not a sporting choice

Paul Pimienta will not play rugby again. After repeated concussions, including two knockouts between August and November last season, the medical authorities ended his playing career by withdrawing his licence.

The ban is not limited to the professional game. It applies to amateur rugby too: the player has said a neurosurgeon advised him against it, since an unhealed injury leaves him exposed to the smallest knock, even at a lower level.

Lasting effects in daily life

What he describes goes beyond the pitch. Ten months after his last head injury, he reports daily pressure in the neck, difficulty finding his bearings visually, especially in the mountains, and reflex problems in ball sports.

Eleven seasons, 134 matches in our data

Brought up at Pouyastruc, Pimienta appears in our database from 2014 with Auch in Fédérale 1, 15 matches across two seasons.

He then joined Colomiers, where he spent seven seasons and played 98 Pro D2 matches, between 2017 and 2024. His busiest campaign was 2018-19 with 20 games, his shortest 2020-21 with three.

He signed for Brive in the summer of 2024 and played 21 matches in two seasons, 13 then 8. In all, our data credits him with 119 Pro D2 matches.

What the procedure means

Withdrawing a licence is not the player’s decision, nor the club’s. It is the procedure that ends participation when the risk of recurrence is judged too high, and it applies at every level, from professional to recreational rugby.

Pimienta was due to face Colomiers, his former club, at Brive on Thursday night. He will watch from the stands.