Paul Rouget, Media365: published on Friday June 28, 2024 at 6:51 p.m.
The Top 14 final between Toulouse and La Rochelle will give rise to a duel of juggernauts on the wing between Blair Kinghorn and Damian Penaud.
They both dream of lifting the Brennus shield on Friday night in Marseille, which is hosting the Top 14 final for the very first time. A feeling that Damian Penaudcrowned in 2017 with Clermont and who hopes to offer a first crown to the UBB, where he arrived in the off-season. Opposite, the Scot Blair Kinghorn, recruited in December by Stade Toulousain and who did not take much time to adapt. At the Orange Vélodrome, the two men, of very good size, since Penaud measures 1.92m and Kinghorn 1.94m, will be opposed on the wing, and their duel could spark sparks. And why not decide the fate of this final, the first for the Bordeaux club?
Penaud has “a page to write”
Although he remained silent during the final phase, whether against Racing 92 (31-17) or Stade Français (22-20), the French international does not generally remain silent for long, and he would be well advised to further increase his impressive total of tries for the season, having scored 14 in the championship, the second best total behind Lyon’s Baptiste Couilloud, plus 4 in the Champions Cup. “There is a page to write with the UBB”confided to L’Equipe the man who wanted a “new challenge”, helping the Girondin club, created in 2006, to fill a desperately empty trophy cabinet.
For Kinghorn, it’s “insane”
Quite the opposite of Stade Toulousain, which holds the record for French championship titles (22) but also in the European Cup (6). It was in the Champions Cup final that Kinghorn, who scored four penalties against Leinster, won the first trophy of his career. “I have never experienced anything like this in my life. It’s crazy!”, he emphasized after celebrating with Toulouse supporters on the Place du Capitole. Again this weekend?
