Damian Penaud

Damian Penaud

Penaud representing France
Date of birth	(1996-09-25) 25 September 1996 (age 28)
Place of birth	Brive-la-Gaillarde, France
Height	1.92 m (6 ft 4 in)
Weight	98 kg (216 lb; 15 st 6 lb)
Notable relative(s)	Alain Penaud (father)
Rugby union career
Position(s) Wing, Centre Current team Bordeaux Bègles Youth career 2006–2007 Lyon 2007–2008 Brive 2009–2010 Malemort 2010–2014 Brive 2014–2017 Clermont Senior career Years Team Apps (Points) 2015–2023 Clermont 120 (280) 2023– Bordeaux Bègles 32 (165) Correct as of 19 January 2025 International career Years Team Apps (Points) 2015–2016 France U20 17 (50) 2017– France 54 (185) Correct as of 8 February 2025

Damian Penaud (born 25 September 1996) is a French professional rugby union player who plays as a wing for Top 14 club Bordeaux Bègles and the France national team. ^{[1] [2] [3]}

Club career

Penaud played for the Clermont Academy side and was selected for the France U20 squad for the 2015 World Rugby Under 20 Championship. He scored 2 tries against the England u20 side. ^[4] but they lost in the semi-finals to eventual champions, New Zealand. ^[5] The following year he made the u20 team again for the 2016 World Rugby Under 20 Championship. He only scored one try against Japan in the whole tournament with France finishing 9th. ^[6]

Penaud made his Top 14 debut in April 2016 against Agen at inside centre. He only played one game that season. He quickly established himself as the backup option for incumbent centre and club legend, Aurélien Rougerie in the following season, regularly playing inside him. ^[7] He also played 3 games in the 2016–17 European Rugby Champions Cup including the final against Saracens F.C. where he came off the bench to replace Aurélien Rougerie.

Penaud played in the 2016–17 Top 14 Final against RC Toulon helping set up Clermont's only try to Alivereti Raka which helped them win the title.

In 2019 Penaud won the European Rugby Challenge Cup with Clermont in the final against La Rochelle by 36 to 16 with a try in the 30th minute of play.

During the 2024–25 Champions Cup, he scored a hat-trick in a 69–17 win away against Exeter Chiefs. ^[8] The following week he scored six tries in a 66–12 win against the Sharks. ^[9] This was a new record for most tries scored in one Champions Cup fixture by an individual player overtaking the previous record of five jointly-held by Tom Beim and Matt Cardey. ^[10]

International career

Penaud was named by France head coach Guy Novès in a 35-man squad ahead of their three-test series against South Africa in June 2017. ^[11] He was a part of the French squad that won the 2022 Six Nations Championship.

Career statistics

List of international tries

International tries

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	17 June 2017	Kings Park Stadium, Durban, South Africa	South Africa	30–15	37–15	2017 South Africa test series
2	10 February 2019	Twickenham, London, England	England	23–8	44–8	2019 Six Nations
3	16 March 2019	Stadio Olimpico, Rome, Italy	Italy	14–25	14–25
4	24 August 2019	Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh, Scotland	Scotland	0–5	17–14	2019 Rugby World Cup warm-up matches
5				3–12
6	8 March 2020	Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh, Scotland	Scotland	6–5	28–17	2020 Six Nations
7	14 February 2021	Aviva Stadium, Dublin, Ireland	Ireland	3–15	13–15	2021 Six Nations
8	13 March 2021	Twickenham, London, England	England	13–15	23–20
9	26 March 2021	Stade de France, Saint-Denis, France	Scotland	18–10	23–27
10	13 July 2021	Melbourne Rectangular Stadium, Melbourne, Australia	Australia	11–3	28–26	2021 Australia test series
11	14 November 2021	Matmut Atlantique, Bordeaux, France	Georgia	22–3	41–15	2021 Autumn internationals
12				36–15
13	20 November 2021	Stade de France, Saint-Denis, France	New Zealand	35–25	40–25
14	6 February 2022	Stade de France, Saint-Denis, France	Italy	28–10	37–10	2022 Six Nations
15	26 February 2022	Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh, Scotland	Scotland	10–31	17–36
16				10–36
17	2 July 2022	Toyota Stadium, Toyota, Japan	Japan	0–5	23–42	2022 Japan test series
18				16–28
19	5 November 2022	Stade de France, Saint-Denis, France	Australia	30–29	30–29	2022 Autumn internationals
20	20 November 2022	Stadium de Toulouse, Toulouse, France	Japan	5–0	33–17
21				26–10
22	11 February 2023	Aviva Stadium, Dublin, Ireland	Ireland	7–11	31–19	2023 Six Nations
23	11 March 2023	Twickenham, London, England	England	10–46	10–53
24				10–53
25	18 March 2023	Stade de France, Saint-Denis, France	Wales	5–7	41–28
26				39–21
27	12 August 2023	Stade Geoffroy-Guichard, Saint-Étienne, France	Scotland	18–10	30–27	2023 Rugby World Cup warm-up matches
28	27 August 2023	Stade de France, Saint-Denis, France	Australia	24–5	41–17
29				36–12
30	8 September 2023	Stade de France, Saint-Denis, France	New Zealand	14–13	27–13	2023 Rugby World Cup
31	21 September 2023	Stade Vélodrome, Marseille, France	Namibia	5–0	96–0
32				24–0
33				66–0
34	6 October 2023	Parc Olympique Lyonnais, Décines-Charpieu, France	Italy	5–0	60–7
35				29–0
36	2 February 2024	Stade Velodrome, Marseille, France	Ireland	8–17	17–38	2024 Six Nations
37	8 February 2025	Twickenham, London, England	England	12–18	26–25	2025 Six Nations

Honours

France

• 1× Six Nations Championship: 2022
• 1× Grand Slam: 2022

Clermont

• 1× Top 14: 2016–17
• 1× European Rugby Challenge Cup: 2018–19

References

1. "Damian PENAUD – Player statistics". It's Rugby (in French). Retrieved 21 June 2022.
2. "Damian Penaud". competitions.ffr.fr (in French). Retrieved 21 June 2022.
3. "Damian PENAUD : profile and stats". All.Rugby (in French). Retrieved 11 March 2023.
4. "U20 Championship". worldrugby.org. Retrieved 6 June 2017. Penaud (2)
5. "U20 Championship". worldrugby.org. Retrieved 6 June 2017. Penaud
6. "U20 Championship". worldrugby.org. Retrieved 7 June 2017.
7. "Rougerie's aiming for record-with a little help". The Rugby Paper. 26 February 2017. Retrieved 6 June 2017– via PressReader.
8. Kitson, Robert. [Penaud leads brilliant Bordeaux in 11-try Champions Cup humiliation of Exeter "Penaud leads brilliant Bordeaux in 11-try Champions Cup humiliation of Exeter"]. The Guardian. Retrieved 19 January 2025.{{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help)
9. "Bordeaux Bègles Bordeaux Bègles 66 12 Sharks". BBC. Retrieved 19 January 2025.
10. "Tournament Records". ECPR. Retrieved 19 January 2025.
11. XV de France : Le groupe pour la tournée

External links

• France profile at FFR
• ASM Clermont profile
• Damian Penaud at European Professional Club Rugby
• Damian Penaud at ESPNscrum
• Damian Penaud at ItsRugby.co.uk