In the ninth of our series of tributes to French rugby’s great journeymen, we focus on a man who’s revered as much in south-west England as he is in south-west France. Here’s a player whose passport has been stamped in three different languages and who, at the latest count, has played for nine different clubs. On remercie Ludovic Mercier!

Anyone born in Angouleme, the capital of the Charente department in western France, is immediately off to a head start in life. Any place that’s twinned with Bury and the wonderfully named Turda in Romania, as well as being the birthplace of that well-known 19th century botanist Charles Gaudichaud-Beaupré is ok with us. So it was that our man Ludovic Mercier entered this world in November 1976.

He began his illustrious rugby career as a seven year-old with his hometown team, Sporting Club d’Angouleme. As a young lad his ambition was to become a policeman, however, his rugby-playing father soon knocked that out of him, as he did Ludovic’s interest in becoming a goalkeeper.

It proved to be a steep learning curve with a club who can also count the likes of Fabrice Landreau and, bizarrely, ex-Swansea lock Maurice Colclough as past players. His time at the Stade Chazny was an important apprenticeship for notre garcon, where he made his first team debut at the tender age of just 16 in the rough-and-tumble of the French second division.

In 1997 he made the first of his numerous moves, joining up with top-flight outfit Béziers. Ludo struggled to nail down a starting spot during his one and only season on the shores of the Mediterranean. His frustration grew to the point that he upped sticks the following summer, heading north to Aurillac. Three seasons of top-flight rugby at the Stade Jean Alric, as well as a first crack at the European Challenge Cup was exactly the kind of exposure Mercier needed to prove himself as a standout stand-off.  This period was undoubtedly the turning point of his career. He was now on the rugby radar. This was brought home by a phone call in the summer of 2001 that was to change Ludovic’s life. Our man was off to Kingsholm, the home of Gloucester.

Along with feisty hooker Olivier Azam, Mercier was to do more for Anglo-French relations than any high-level political shindig. His booming left peg, metronomic place-kicking and ability to get his backline moving made him in an instant favourite. His two seasons in the West Country were productive and successful, with the cherry and whites progressing to the 2003 Heineken Cup quarter finals as well as winning the Powergen Cup in the same year. He also earned his two and only caps for France during that year’s Six Nations campaign.

Nevertheless, the pull of France would prove irresistible and he found himself sur la route again, this time inking a deal with Grenoble. Although he was back amongst the steak frites and AOC wines, his season at the Stade Lesdiguières was a tough one. Les Alpinistes struggled to cope with the heat of the Top 16, and despite a personal tally of 200 points from notre homme, they only avoided relegation to Pro D2 by la peau de leurs dents.

In true journeyman style, it was time to move again and further add to his little book of removal company contacts. Pau would be his next stop, as he moved from one snow-capped, mountainous area of France to another. Another lucrative personal campaign would follow at the Stade Hameau, with Mercier racking up a career-best league tally of 279 points, however, for a second successive season his individual performances would be eclipsed by a poor team effort. Yet again, he was involved in a relegation dogfight, as la Section narrowly retained their top-flight status thanks to a nerve-wracking play-off win over his old side Aurillac, that year's Pro D2 runners-up.

A two-year tour of duty around French rugby’s relegation scene was enough to persuade Mercier to heed the call of an old flame. He was once again heading to the land of les rosbifs to rejoin Gloucester on a two-year contract.

He hit the ground running back on familiar territory, racking up a total of 336 league, European and Anglo-Welsh points. That 2005/06 season also saw Gloucester clinch European Challenge Cup glory, thanks to a hard-fought campaign that culminated in a thrilling 36-34 win over London Irish at Twickenham.  Indeed, the Challenge Cup has been kind to him. His career haul of 520 points is a competition record, ahead of the likes of Eric Elwood and Olly Barkley. His closest active rival is Jonny Wilkinson with 390 points, although Mourad Boudjellal will be hoping Ludovic keeps that honour for the foreseeable future.

Sadly, his second season back at Kingsholm was blighted by injury and once his contract was up Ludo decided to cut his losses and take a punt in Italy, with Super 10 outfit Petrarca being our man’s next port of call in July 2007. Over the next four seasons the king of the kicks helped himself to 789 league and Challenge Cup points, with his tally of 201 points during the 2007/08 campaign marking a league high. He also starred for the newly formed Italian region Aironi as they made their debut in the Magners League last year.

Time will tell if his latest move to Club Athlétique de Saint-Étienne Loire Sud Rugby, or Saint-Etienne to you and I, will be his last hurrah. Life in Fédérale 1 may suit this 35-year-old veteran, and he’s already made his mark at the Stade Etivallière, making four starts and chipping in with 55 points as the mid-table Stéphanois struggle to keep up with the likes of Montauban and Bourg-en-Bresse in the third tier.

If the bald-headed one does decide to hang up his boots, he can do so safe in the knowledge that he’s left a lasting legacy amongst rugby supporters across France, northern Italy and south-west England. He’ll also make Madame Mercier a happy wife, as she can unpack those boxes once and for all.