Damian Penaud

Damian Penaud scores tries at a rate that would be suspicious if it were not so thoroughly documented.

He is France’s record-chasing wing and has done it without ever being the fastest man on the field. The threat is spatial: he arrives where the defence has decided nobody is, times the run off his fly-half’s shoulder, and finishes with the composure of someone who has done it several hundred times.

The aerial game is the underrated half. At his height he wins restarts and contestable kicks that most wings concede, which gives France an attacking option from their own kicking game.

He is the son of Alain Penaud, which in French rugby is a considerable weight, and he has spent a career quietly outperforming the comparison.

With Louis Bielle-Biarrey on the other edge, France field the most productive finishing pair in the game. The internal competition for the record has become one of the better subplots in the Top 14.