Difficult to hide a surname as imposing as Penaud in Brive. Damian, the son, was born on September 26, 1996, four months before the coronation in the European Cup of his father, international opener, with CA Brive. After taking his first license in Lyon, he will logically enroll in the Brive rugby school. At the same time as scrum-half David Delarue. “We met, but then he left” says the Brivist, “He didn’t seem too comfortable with his father, who was very popular at Brive, because he was a great player.” Thereafter, he left to play football at Etoile de Brive (ESA Brive) before resuming rugby at Malemort.
A kid who wanted to have fun playing rugby
It was there that he crossed paths with Thierry Maurin, then one of Brive’s educators. “We had recovered a very very toned kid, eager to progress in rugby.” The educator observes the facilities of the young man, who wants to play and have fun. “It’s still 15-year-old kids” emphasizes Thierry Maurin. So he did the 400 shots. “When it was raining a lot, at the back of the stadium, there was a big puddle. At the end of training, I saw that they wanted to jump in. We told them at the end of training ‘go ahead ‘ and we found them at the end” the swimsuit totally wet. His jump is reminiscent of his true athletic qualities which he shows every weekend with the France team.
– ANDY BUCHANAN
Back in Brive, three kilometers from the Raymond-Faucher stadium in Malemort, Damian Penaud remains the same. David Delarue remembers: “It happened to us sometimes in training to be so stupid that we were fired by the coaches” smiled the former Brive member. Nevertheless, on the field in match, Damian Penaud was, like today, a huge player. In Brive, we still remember a hat-trick scored with the Crabos against Toulouse. “It’s a free electron” testifies Thierry Maurin, “he has this freedom of expression on the pitch that makes him unpredictable. He can trigger something nice to see“At every moment tells the former educator of Malemort.
His brilliant passage with the internationals
In Clermont, he seems to have progressed, spotted by Xavier Sadourny, then responsible for the ASM training center. Today, Damian Penaud has scored sixteen tries in his career, including two against Scotland last February. David Delarue, who watches every international match of the XV of France, sees a player with extraordinary abilities. “When he’s on the field, he always has the right gesture. As soon as he crosses, he never has the meter too much. He always looks to see if he can bring the ball to life. And if he can bring it to life, he makes the pass to the right guy at the right time” believes David Delarue.
“With Antoine Dupont, Damian is one of the two key players of the XV of France” – David Delarue
Now, he is walking towards his first Grand Slam, at 25 years old. He would be the first Corrézien since 2010, when Thomas Domingo, Dimitri Yachili and the former Brive player (native of Montauban) Alexis Palisson had been crowned.