Clermont face fight to hold on to Penaud
Damian Penaud is one of French rugby's hottest properties right now – and playing for a club in the midst of upheaval.
Three tries in a trio of impressive Autumn Nations internationals performances saw him named player of the series as he climbed into the top 10 leading French try scorers of all time – and, with his contract up at the end of the season, he's the focus of a huge amount of recruitment interest.
Clermont want to keep the 26-year-old. Toulouse, La Rochelle, Bordeaux, Lyon, Toulon, Montpellier and Racing have been among those Top 14 sides keen to pry him away from Marcel Michelin.
There have even been whispers of a shock move to England – Bath and Bristol have been mentioned – though such a switch seems unlikely as, injuries and form permitting, he may well have two more World Cups in his legs.
Penaud had a relatively quiet day at the office on Saturday as Jono Gibbes' side, 11th heading into the weekend having been fourth in mid-October, ended a run of four games without a win, beating Montpellier 19-14 and ending a three-match winning run for the defending Top 14 champions in the process.
But that win – welcome though it inevitably was – will do little to calm the nerves of Clermont fans, worried that the trumpeted project 2025, by which time the club plans to have a first Champions Cup star stitched onto their shirts, and to be seriously challenging for Top 14 honours, has hit the rocks early. Last week's 46-12 loss at Racing 92, when a strange-looking Clermont side struggled to fire anything approaching a shot, merely appeared to confirm those fears.
“We had to get our heads above water and win: that's the main thing,” captain Arthur Iturria said after the match. “There was pressure, the win will allow us to free ourselves a little.”
It's not just the race for Penaud's signature – Toulouse and Clermont are said to be locked in a battle of contractual wits, while L'Equipe reported this week that both Bordeaux and La Rochelle have invited the winger to check out their facilities – though the never-ending rumours haven't helped fans' collective mood.
Despite the best efforts of the Clermont management to keep their captain, Iturria has signed up to join Bayonne at the end of the season – citing family reasons and a desire to return to his Basque home.
Meanwhile – ayear after keystone players Morgan Parra and Camille Lopez left the club – Peceli Yato, Fritz Lee, Thomas Lavanini, Adrien Pelissie and Etienne Fourcade are also expected to move on as part of Clermont's grand rebuild. Back row Alex Lapandry is set to retire.
“Three tries in a trio of impressive performances saw him named player of the series”
Sporting director Didier Retiere, architect of the 2025 project, has promised the club will have some recruitment news to report this month – with contract extensions on the table for Etienne Falgoux, Judicael Cancoriet and Samuel Ezeala, and the club reportedly tracking England international Jack Nowell, All Black eight Pita-Gus Sowakula, and Australian hooker Folau Fainga'a.
But while all the news is about departures, more injuries and lacklustre performances, fans will remain unhappy.
The Top 14's two managerial inter-regnum sides, Bordeaux and Brive met in a battle of the interim coaches at Stade Chaban Delmas, with both sides looking for their first win since parting company with their head coaches. The visitors' centre Stuart Olding was stretchered off with a serious injury in the opening 10 minutes. And bottom-of-the-table Brive's afternoon got worse, as they slumped to a seventh defeat in a row, going down 33-13.
Bayonne's impressive unbeaten run at home on their return to the top flight continued as they beat Lyon 19-7 at a rain-lashed Stade Jean Dauger. The promoted ProD2 champions have now bested Racing, Bordeaux, La Rochelle, Perpignan, Toulouse and Lyon at home, and beaten Clermont on the road.
Just over a week after he landed in the Haute-Garonne, former Wasp Jack Willis made his debut for Toulouse at a chilly Stade Ernest Wallon against Perpignan, as Antoine Dupont returned to club action after his ban for taking out Cheslin Kolbe in the air in France's second Autumn International was reduced. The hosts picked up a bonus-point 34-13 win to maintain their lead at the top of the table.
The best defence in the Top 14 got the better of the best attack when Stade Francais hosted La Rochelle last night at Stade Jean Bouin. It was a bitty, error-strewn encounter, but the Parisians came out on top, picking up a try-scoring bonus as they pulled away from 15-14 ahead at halftime to win 27-14.
It's fair to say 12th place heading into the 12th weekend of the campaign was not part of Castres' plans. But, although they have maintained a long-standing unbeaten run at home, winning all five matches at Stade Pierre Fabre this season, they have found points on the road almost impossible to come by, picking up only a solitary losing bonus in six on-the-road matches.
A return to their fortress, unbreached since December 2020, will come as something of a relief in the final Top 14 match before the Champions Cup break. They entertain Pau on Sunday afternoon, who have won their last three in a row.
Later, a week after winning at Stade Francais, Toulon welcome the other Ile-de-France side, Racing 92, to Stade Mayol for the final match of this two-match block of games between the international and multi-league competition breaks.
