Alain Penaud (born 19 July 1969) is a French former

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

player who held the position of

fly-half In the game of rugby union, there are 15 players on each team, comprising eight forwards (wearing jerseys numbered 1–8) and seven backs (numbered 9–15). In addition, there may be up to eight replacement players "on the bench", numbered 16� ...

. He was known for his vision of the game, his audacity and his ball carrying and played mainly for Brive, where he scored 449 points within 334 games all in all and won the

Heineken Cup The European Rugby Champions Cup (known as the Investec Champions Cup for sponsorship reasons) is an annual rugby union tournament organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the top-tier competition for clubs who compete in a pre ...

in 1997. Penaud is widely acknowledged as one of the best Brive players of all time. He later won French Rugby Union Championship (named at that time ''Élite 1'') with

Toulouse Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...

in 2001. He was selected 32 times for the French national team and won the

1997 Five Nations Championship The 1997 Five Nations Championship was the sixty-eighth series of the rugby union Five Nations Championship. Including the previous incarnations as the Home Nations and Five Nations, this was the hundred-and-third series of the northern hemisphe ...

clinching a Grand Slam. His international career was restricted due to his strong personality and the tactical choices of many coaches. He has indeed never been selected for a

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

, even though his career has covered five tournaments. His son is French rugby union international Damian Penaud.

Biography

Alain Penaud was born on 19 July 1969 in Juillac, Corrèze. He started rugby for his hometown club US Juillac-Objat, near

Brive-la-Gaillarde Brive-la-Gaillarde (; Limousin dialect of ), commonly known as simply Brive, is a commune of France. It is a sub-prefecture and the largest city of the Corrèze department. It has around 46,000 inhabitants, while the population of the aggl ...

, at the age of 13 and then moved to Brive three years later. He began to be a regular starter for Brive first-team in the late 1980s and the early 1990s. Alongside Sébastien Carrat, Christophe Lamaison, David Venditti and Sebastien Viars, he formed a formidable back line. He reached the 1995–96 French Rugby Union Championship (named at that time ''Groupe A'') final but lost against

, and is remembered for captaining the team in winning the

in 1997 against

Leicester Tigers Leicester Tigers (officially Leicester Football Club) are a professional rugby union club based in Leicester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded in 1880 and since 1892 plays its home ...

and featured in the final the following year against

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

. His first start for France came against

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

in 1992. Penaud has been in and out of the side for France, though still appeared in the 1997 Grand Slam win, including a last-minute victory against England at

Twickenham Twickenham ( ) is a suburban district of London, England, on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historic counties of England, Historically in Middlesex, since 1965 it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, who ...

. After a defeat in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

in the summer of 1997, he left the national team, missing the 1999 World Cup. He moved to

Saracens file:Erhard Reuwich Sarazenen 1486.png, upright 1.5, Late 15th-century History of Germany, German woodcut depicting Saracens ''Saracen'' ( ) was a term used both in Greek language, Greek and Latin writings between the 5th and 15th centuries to ...

for the 1998–99 Allied Dunbar Premiership season to replace

Michael Lynagh Michael Patrick Thomas Lynagh, (born 25 October 1963) is an Australian former rugby union player who played 66 tests at Fly-half (rugby union), fly-half and six tests at inside centre between 1984 and 1995. Lynagh was Cap (sport), capped 72 time ...

, and scored a try on his debut against

Northampton Saints Northampton Saints (officially Northampton Rugby Football Club) is a professional rugby union club from Northampton, England. The club plays in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby union. It was formed in 1880 as "Northampton St. ...

. He scored 66 points within 24 games for Sarries. Despite a three-year contract, he spent only one season across the channel (finishing 3rd in the league), preferring, for family reasons to return to France at Toulouse, where he won 2000–01 Élite 1. Producing two excellent seasons, Penaud was recalled to the France squad for the 2000 Six Nations. He then returned to Brive when the club was playing in the second division. He helped them to promotion for the 2003–04 season. He left the club in 2005, after scoring 449 points within 334 games including 263 championship ones, and signed for

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

as player-coach. Despite his age, he surprised many by becoming one of the best players in the league. He then moved to

Stade Français Stade Français Paris (known commonly as Stade Français, ) is a French professional rugby union club based in the 16th arrondissement of Paris. The club plays in the Top 14 domestic league in France and is one of the most successful French ...

in 2005, lasting only one season. In 2006–07, he returned to honour his contract as player-coach with Lyon in Pro D2. His last dance was tumultuous, as he received a suspension for 30 days for insulting a referee during a match against

Limoges Limoges ( , , ; , locally ) is a city and Communes of France, commune, and the prefecture of the Haute-Vienne Departments of France, department in west-central France. It was the administrative capital of the former Limousin region. Situated o ...

. Penaud retired at the end of the season, after a 20-year elite career.

Personal life

He is the father of another French international, Damian Penaud. He currently works as

chief commercial officer The chief commercial officer (CCO) (sometimes referred to as the chief business officer) is an executive-level role, with the holder being responsible for the commercial management and the development of an organization. It typically involves a ...

Andros Andros (, ) is the northernmost island of the Greece, Greek Cyclades archipelago, about southeast of Euboea, and about north of Tinos. It is nearly long, and its greatest breadth is . It is for the most part mountainous, with many fruitful and ...

Honours

Brive

: 1996–97 *

runner-up: 1997–98 * Groupe A runner-up: 1995–96 *

Challenge Yves du Manoir The Challenge Yves du Manoir was a rugby union club competition that was played in France between 1931 and 2003 under different names. It is named after former player Yves du Manoir. History The Challenge Yves du Manoir was officially created on ...

: 1996

Toulouse

Élite 1 Élite 1 Féminine (since 2018, and previously Top 8 from 2015 to 2018) is the top national league for women's rugby union clubs in France. It was founded from the 1971–1972 season under the aegis of the French Women's Rugby Association before ...

: 2000–01

France

Five Nations Championship The Six Nations Championship (known as the Six Nations, branded as Guinness M6N) is an annual international rugby union competition by the teams of England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. It is the oldest sports tournament contes ...

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

( Grand Slam) *

Six Nations Championship The Six Nations Championship (known as the Six Nations, branded as Guinness M6N) is an annual international rugby union competition by the teams of England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. It is the oldest sports tournament conte ...

runner-up:

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

Statistics

Club statistics

International statistics

International tries

References

External links

* *
FFR
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Penaud, Alain CA Brive players Saracens F.C. players Stade Toulousain players Lyon OU Rugby players Stade Français Paris players French rugby union players 20th-century French sportsmen Living people France international rugby union players 1969 births Rugby union players from Corrèze Rugby union fly-halves French expatriate rugby union players in England