The new Bordeaux-Bègles winger, Damian Penaud, who resumed training with his new club on Monday, will be a substitute during his first match on Saturday (5 p.m.) in Pau, according to the composition revealed by the club this Friday.
The former Clermontois, author of six tries during the 2023 World Cup, has benefited from three weeks of vacation since the quarter-final lost against South Africa. This week, he discovered the Moga training center at the same time as the former performance director of the Blues Thibault Giroud. He was guided for his first steps by his international partners Matthieu Jalibert, Maxime Lucu, Louis Bielle-Biarrey, Yoram Moefana and Sipili Falatea or the former ASM player Tani Vili.
At the Hameau stadium, UBB will line up Bielle-Biarrey and the Congolese Madosh Tambwe on the wings, Penaud taking his place on the bench made up of six forwards, a scrum half and him. Also returning after the World Cup, Jalibert and Lucu will be associated in the middle while Moefana will start in the center.
“There are a lot of new things for him,” explained defense coach Christophe Laussucq. The players we haven’t had for four months like Matthieu Jalibert or Max Lucu, it’s a little simpler because they have benchmarks, they know the entire squad. We could have (put Penaud from the start), we asked ourselves the question, it’s a choice.”
“When we talk about an impact player, I think that (Damian) has all the qualities to really bring us something at the end of the match through his versatility and his undeniable qualities,” continued the technician.