Saracens Top 10 Busts - Alain Penaud
By The Fezboys
August 8 2012
It was always gong to be a tough assignment; following in the footsetps of Michael Lynagh. Sarries needed an international-class fly half and who better than one with plenty of experience as part of the France squad, not to mention the captain of a Heineken Cup winning team. What on Earth could go wrong?
Name: Alain Penaud
International Caps: 32, France.
Joined from: Brive
Time at Saracens: 1998-1999
Appearances: 27
Points: 73
Famous for: Probably driving a Renault, never being selected for any of the four World Cups for which he was eligible and captaining Brive to a four-try, 27-9 thumping of Leicester (never miss a chance to talk about Tigers fans weeping, eh?) in the 1997 Heineken Cup Final.
Hype: Upon his arrival, Francois Pienaar said of the replacement for the newly-retired Michael Lynagh “We looked far and wide for Michael's replacement. A couple of names came up and we had meetings with most of them. Mark Evans travelled all over Europe to meet the players but we decided on Alain for a number of reasons. He was always our first choice and we are delighted he has agreed to join the Saracens family. Alain is a fantastic player with a very physical game.”
Reality: Despite the Francois flannel, hardly set the world alight and was a little temperamental, not unlike other French players. Left after just one year of a three-year contract because, allegedly, his missus didn't like the hell hole that is St Albans. There's no pleasing some people.
Most memorable Sarries moment: Trying to bum cigarettes in the Red Lion after a Vicarage Road match, only to be rumbled by Francois Pienaar. Penaud scarpered quicker than we ever saw him run on the pitch.
What Happened Next: The last two lines of the song penned by us for him had to be re-written in a hurry.
From:
His name is Alain Penaud – He prob’ly drives a Renault – He plays at number ten-oh – Right next to Nice-But-Dim [Kyran Bracken, of course]
To:
His name is Alain Penaud – He prob’ly drives a Renault – Won’t play for us again, no! – He’s f****d off back to France!
After he'd got changed, he was running diagonally across the pitch (Sunbury, I imagine). I can only conclude that his fags must have been in the car
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2012:08:10:11:51:23 by TonyTaff.
'A couple of names came up (that means two) and we had meetings with most (that means not all, i.e. one) of them'.
Or he was the only one we were able to speak to therefore he was our main 'choice'.
I only really remember the song and the disappointment of
It's a long time since Sports network paid anything!