Florian Fritz is a French rugby union

Rugby union

Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...

 footballer. His usual position is in the centre, and he currently plays for Stade Toulousain

Stade Toulousain

Stade Toulousain, also referred to as Toulouse, is a French rugby union club from Toulouse in Midi-Pyrénées. Toulouse is one of the finest rugby clubs in Europe, having won the Heineken Cup four times – in 1996, 2003, 2005 and 2010. They were also runners-up in 2004 and 2008 against London Wasps...

 in the Top 14 club competition in France. Fritz has also played for France

France national rugby union team

The France national rugby union team represents France in rugby union. They compete annually against England, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales in the Six Nations Championship. They have won the championship outright sixteen times, shared it a further eight times, and have completed nine grand slams...

.

He played his first Heineken Cup

Heineken Cup

The Heineken Cup is one of two annual rugby union competitions organised by European Rugby Cup involving leading club, regional and provincial teams from the six International Rugby Board countries in Europe whose national teams compete in the Six Nations Championship: England, France, Ireland,...

 match during the 2003–04 tournament

2003-04 Heineken Cup

The 2003-4 Heineken Cup was the ninth season for which European teams competed for the Heineken Cup. Competing teams, from England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales, were divided into six pools of four, in which teams played home and away matches against each other...

, scoring a try in the his fifth match against Gloucester

Gloucester RFC

Gloucester Rugby are a professional English rugby union club situated in the west country city of Gloucester. The club plays in the domestic Aviva Premiership...

 for CS Bourgoin-Jallieu

CS Bourgoin-Jallieu

CS Bourgoin-Jallieu is a French rugby union club currently competing in the second level of the French league system in the Pro D2. The club have been runners-up in the French championship and the Challenge Yves du Manoir competitions, and have won the Challenge Cup.Founded in 1906 as "Club...

. Fritz moved to Toulouse in 2004 and he scored two tries for Toulouse during their 2004-05 Heineken Cup

2004-05 Heineken Cup

The 2004-5 Heineken Cup was the tenth edition of the Heineken Cup. Competing teams, from England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales, were divided into six pools of four, in which teams played home and away matches against each other...

, with Toulouse eventually winning the tournament, defeating fellow French side, Stade Français 18 points to 12.

His good form at Toulouse was rewarded with selection in the France

France national rugby union team

The France national rugby union team represents France in rugby union. They compete annually against England, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales in the Six Nations Championship. They have won the championship outright sixteen times, shared it a further eight times, and have completed nine grand slams...

 squad for the 2005 mid-year Test against South Africa. He went on to make his international debut against the Springboks

South Africa national rugby union team

The South African national rugby union team are 2009 British and Irish Lions Series winners. They are currently ranked as the fourth best team in the IRB World Rankings and were named 2008 World Team of the Year at the prestigious Laureus World Sports Awards.Although South Africa was instrumental...

 on June 18 in Durban

Durban

Durban is the largest city in the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal and the third largest city in South Africa. It forms part of the eThekwini metropolitan municipality. Durban is famous for being the busiest port in South Africa. It is also seen as one of the major centres of tourism...

 which resulted in a 30-all draw. That year Fritz earned further international caps for France in matches against Australia

Australia national rugby union team

The Australian national rugby union team is the representative side of Australia in rugby union. The national team is nicknamed the Wallabies and competes annually with New Zealand and South Africa in the Tri-Nations Series, in which they also contest the Bledisloe Cup with New Zealand and the...

 in Marseille

Marseille

Marseille , known in antiquity as Massalia , is the second largest city in France, after Paris, with a population of 852,395 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Marseille extends beyond the city limits with a population of over 1,420,000 on an area of...

 and South Africa in Paris. He played for France during the 2006 Six Nations Championship

2006 Six Nations Championship

The 2006 RBS 6 Nations Championship was the seventh series of the rugby union Six Nations Championship to be held since the competition expanded in 2000 to include Italy...

, playing his first Six Nations match against Scotland

Scotland national rugby union team

The Scotland national rugby union team represent Scotland in international rugby union. Rugby union in Scotland is administered by the Scottish Rugby Union. The Scotland rugby union team is currently ranked eighth in the IRB World Rankings as of 19 September 2011...

 on February 5. Although France lost that match 16 to 20, France went on to win the tournament. He was named in the French Rugby Squad for the Six Nations in 2009.

External links

• RBS 6 Nations profile
• Florian Fritz on ercrugby.com
• Florian Fritz on stade-toulousain.fr
• Florian Fritz on sporting-heroes.net