Donovan Taofifénua

Donovan Taofifénua scored three tries against Bayonne on 29 November 2020, the first hat-trick of his professional career. France named him in their squad for the Autumn Nations Cup final against England that same afternoon. He has still not won a cap.

Wing or full-back at Montpellier, 1.79m and 84kg, and 27 years old.

The surname is one of the better known in French rugby. His father Jean-Jacques hooked for Nice and Grenoble, and Romain, Sébastien and Filimo Taofifénua are all cousins. He was born in Grenoble while his father and his uncle Willy were playing there.

He started at US Mouguerre in 2004 and followed his father to Limoges and Isle before Clermont took him into their academy at fifteen. A national under-23 title came in 2017-18 and a junior world championship in 2019, and his first senior appearances came in the 2019-20 season.

Racing 92 offered more rugby and he took it the following year. That was the season the tries arrived: ten in twenty-one Top 14 matches and two more in three European games, plus the hat-trick and the France call. A second call came in the 2021 Six Nations to cover for Gabin Villière, and again he did not get on.

By 2026 he was in the Montpellier side that won the Challenge Cup and reached a French championship final.

A finisher rather than a carrier, quick off either foot and comfortable at fifteen. The uncapped record is the odd part of a career that has otherwise gone the right way.