Silvère Tian

Silvère Tian (born July 19, 1980 in Abidjan) is an Ivorian rugby union fullback, currently playing for the Top 14 team Oyonnax.

Tian started playing rugby at age 6 in Abidjan. He took part in the 1998 Under-21 World Championships that were held in France and attracted the attention of the Rodez recruiters. He left for Flers after a difficult couple of years. After two years, he left for Fédérale 1 club Tours, where he stayed for three years. His breakthrough came when he joined Bourg-en-Bresse, whom he helped get promoted to Pro D2. He attracted the attention of Oyonnax, where he finished the Pro D2 top scorer for the 2009–10 Rugby Pro D2 season. He was then recruited by Top 14 team Bourgoin-Jallieu, but, due to their important financial troubles, they had to let him leave for Agen in February 2011.

Tian was handed a 16-month suspension following an indecent with a referee on 2nd April 2016. Tian was ticked off to have been given a yellow card and allegedly insulted and threatened referee Romain Poite. Poite decided that was worth a red card, and that’s where things got really interesting, as Tian had to be restrained by security.