TOP 14 Tuesday: Tries of the Weekend
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Damian Penaud - ASM Clermont
The promising 20-year old centre excelled in midfield against Toulon at the Stade Marcel-Michelin. Les Jaunards started the game as 7-point favourites but failed to brush off their TOP14 rivals as the game hung in the balance at the start of the second-half. Scotland scrum-half Greig Laidlaw making his home debut fed the ball to Camille Lopez, the gifted fly-half measured a deft grubber kick through the Toulon defence and Penaud angled his run, showing his searing pace and awareness to race away from Tillous-Borde to guide the reigning champions to victory.
Cheslin Kolbe - Toulouse
The South African flyer maintained his electric start to his TOP14 career with Toulouse. Kolbe played a key role in securing a draw for Toulouse in last weekend's season opener as he created a spectacular assist for Sebastien Bezy before touching down himself with five minutes remaining at the Stade Charles-Mathon. Kolbe was once again in a rich vein of form against Pau as he made it two tries in as many games. A strong Toulouse scrum started the attack as Semi Kunatani raced clear before offloading to his fly-half deep in the opposition 22. A magical display of handling skills by Holmes sent the ball on to Ramos who put Kolbe away to score in the corner.
Ruan Pienaar - Montpellier
The former Ulster scrum-half has quickly settled into life at the Altrad Stadium guiding Montpellier to successive home wins over the two recently-promoted sides, Agen & Oyonnax. On Saturday, the 88-times capped Bok showed how important his experience will be to Vern Cotter's set-up over the next few months as he attempts to gel together the host of star arrivals at the club. Two bonus-point victories, 12 tries scored and a plus 60 points differential demonstrate the power at the disposal of the New Zealand born coach. Pienaar got his try scoring exploits off the mark following a neat exchange with the behemoth French No.8 Louis Picamoles.
Honourable mention to Grenoble's 18-year old full-back Gervais Cordin's magical solo effort in the Pro D2 against Mont-de-Marsan.
