Damian Penaud did not miss his first match in front of his new audience at the Chaban-Delmas stadium. The former Clermontois, author of his first try with UBB the previous weekend in La Rochelle, scored his four tries in the first half alone against USAP.
Twice, he was at the conclusion of a collective movement, the first after only 81 seconds of play. He scored another on an interception and the last in support of his teammate Nicolas Depoortère after a penalty played quickly on the foot by Maxime Lucu.
The French XV winger scored a hat-trick twice with ASM in 2019 (against Toulouse in the Top 14 and Northampton in the European Challenge) then another with the Blues during the last World Cup against Namibia.
He is the seventh player to achieve a quadruple in the history of the Top 14 after wingers Rupeni Caucaunibuca, Napolioni Nalaga, Sam Gerber, David Smith and Gabriel Lacroix and number 8 Louis Picamoles. No player has scored a quintuple in the Top 14. Former international winger and Blues captain Philippe Saint-André stood out by scoring five tries with Clermont in 1991.
The record for the number of tries in a single match in the elite of French rugby is still held by Béziers winger Michel Fabre, author of 11 tries during his team’s historic victory against Montchanin (100-0) on December 16, 1979.
His four achievements on video (click on the “Watch on YouTube” link):