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The 21-year-old speedster has stayed in the international set-up while his fellow Toulouse wing Cedric Heymans has slid back into the relative obscurity of club rugby. And it has not just been because of the striking red scrum cap he wears that he has galloped ahead of his team-mate.
"I wear it as a mark of respect for my former club, Grenoble," he confesses, though as with everything he does it is not because he needs to be noticed. "I suffered a serious ear injury when I was young and I need it for protection."
Opposition defences have certainly needed protection from the flyer of late as he has tormented them with his pace, fearless tackling and the habit of switching from one side of the pitch to the other within seconds.
"I get bored out there, though I realise that there's a limit to how often I can drift in. However there's no rule to tell you that you must stay rigidly in position. It's a question of judgement and I'm learning at two of the finest academies a rugby player could have, Toulouse and France," he says.
He illustrated that to great effect against the timid Scots in France's second Six Nations clash, coming in off the left wing and creating mayhem as he strode into the 22 before offloading the ball for Clement Poitreneaud to score. None the less, he is adamant that while others such as Toulouse team-mates Xavier Garbajosa and Poitreneaud like to play in different positions he prefers to stay where he is.
"I'm only 21 after all. It's fine if other players want to move around but having played as a centre when I was a schoolboy I found the wing much more to my liking and besides I don't feel out on a limb there as I often get involved," he says. The Scots and English found that out in their recent Six Nations encounters. He tackled like a dervish and while, in the 25-17 defeat by England, more experienced heads such as captain Fabien Galthie wandered round disconsolately for large parts of the game his youthful enthusiasm forbade him to give up.
"I have always been taught that one is not beaten until the final whistle goes and one way of turning round a match is to carry on taking down the opposition and preventing them from scoring any more points," he says.
Clerc's rugby idol is neither a wing nor a Frenchman. It is Australian double World Cup winner Tim Horan.
"He had everything. Pace, tackling ability and the vision to see a break where ordinary players could not. He was a sensation," purrs Clerc.
Another of the centres brigade, Thomas Castaignede, is a keen fan of the diminutive Clerc, not least because he has robbed him of two positions.
"Well I won't be playing winger again," he laughs. "And I certainly won't be chosen to be the singer in the squad now that we have 'Julien' Clerc," adds the impish Saracens star, making a play on the name of Clerc whose namesake Julien is a popular French singer. Clerc has worked hard to get so far. As a boy, he trained for whole evenings with a friend on his local ground at St Egreve and the dedication has certainly paid off. Clerc, though, is taking nothing for granted despite his meteoric rise as he targets Heineken Cup glory for Toulouse and a place on the plane for this autumn's World Cup.
"At the moment everything is going well but I am well aware there can be pitfalls such as loss of form and injury.
"However, you don't have to look further than Thomas Castaignede as an example of picking yourself up off the floor. He went from being the in vogue player to being out in the cold. To suffer a career-threatening injury and fight his way back was remarkable.
"I'm just hoping that I can stay fit and make my place on the plane definite, but there's so much competition in France at the moment that today's flavour could be out of favour the next week."
Clerc's priority, now the Grand Slam is no longer a possibility for France, is at domestic level as he attempts to help Toulouse to their second Heineken Cup title in May in Dublin - and to their 17th French championship title. He has been on fire in Toulouse's Heineken Cup campaign and they have looked increasingly like the side that won the inaugural trophy in Cardiff, albeit without the involvement of English sides as Les Rosbifs performed their traditional piece de theatre - leaving it late to join their European partners.
"I won't let my head get too big. There is always someone waiting to bring you down to earth and to be truthful I am still getting used to the speed of my rise. As I've said, I won't feel the first stage of my career has been a total success unless we win a trophy and I get to the World Cup."
Many an international player will be earnestly hoping that Clerc, for one reason or another, spends next October listening to Red Hot Chili Peppers' latest album rather than burning them for speed on the playing fields of Australia.
This is an excerpt from an Aricle by Pirate Irwin of Agence France Presse, in ERC's official magazine, Rugby Europe, to read more, click here.
