The red scrum cap of Louis Bielle-Biarrey is not quite at “iconic” levels but its distinctiveness means that the French wing stands out more than most on a rugby field. Not that the 21-year-old needs a leg up in that regard; Bielle-Biarrey’s two tries at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday – taking his season tally to 23 – mean France are now in the driving seat for a second Six Nations title in four years. Scrum cap or not, the world is acutely aware of the young wing’s talents.
Bielle-Biarrey’s strike rate this season is frightening, but as Ireland found out on Saturday, the Bordeaux-Begles bullet train is far more than an out-and-out speedster or an out-and-out finisher. When one assesses Bielle-Biarrey’s defensive cross-field kick in the first half – one of the most audacious bits of skill in Six Nations history (watch video below) – or the wonder try he scored at a seminal moment in the match, to reduce his talents simply to speed or finishing would be reductive.
The acceleration of a McMurtry Speirling racing car – Bielle-Biarrey was reportedly clocked at almost 35kmh in scoring against New Zealand in November – is only the start. It is Bielle-Biarrey’s instinct and anticipation which are just as notable. Without those, the speed is redundant. As those at Bordeaux who coach him say, their prodigious wing is almost redefining “rugby quickness”.
“There are lots of very quick people in the world but not all of them can translate that into being a world-class rugby player,” says Noel McNamara, Bordeaux’s attack coach. “Louis is certainly on the way to being exactly that.
“There’s mental speed and there’s physical speed. I’ve coached players who are significantly quicker than Louis – sometimes we can get hung up, saying he’s just got speed. Louis sees pictures quickly and, yes, with his speed he is able to exploit them, but there’s more to his game than speed.
“It’s rugby acceleration that matters, not a 0-60. You can go to the NFL combine and find someone who is unbelievably quick, with unbelievable acceleration – all the stats – but can they do it while they’re stepping off their left foot and catching a ball at the same time? Can they do it while they’re running between two defenders? Can they do it while someone who’s 150kg is trying to smash them? Can they do it while collecting the ball at full pace without breaking stride?
“In terms of pure stats, I wouldn’t be able to tell you whether Louis has the best acceleration but they would only tell one part of the story. Louis is unbelievably ‘rugby quick’ and that is the combination of mental and physical speed; seeing pictures quickly and acting. You cannot just say that that’s about being physically quick or having good acceleration.”
The wing’s record this season is absurd: 23 tries across 19 matches for club and country, with 17 in 16 Test starts for France. McNamara believes, in terms of try-scoring instinct, that ability to sniff out an opportunity no matter how unlikely the odds, that Bielle-Biarrey’s knack of crossing the whitewash is reminiscent of a man who regularly lit up Twickenham: Chris Ashton.
Ashton scored 20 tries in 44 caps for England, but few in the Premiership or Top 14 had his ability to identify even the slightest hint of a try-scoring opportunity. The 37-year-old broke the Top 14 record for tries in one season, crossing 24 times in 23 matches for Toulon. For the former England wing, it is about appetite. It is also cultural.
“Having an appetite to score tries; if you ain’t got that... Louis has that,” says Ashton. “That can make you even more deadly. If you’re willing to chase things 10 times over and not get them, but you’re willing to do it for that one time that you do, then you’ll score so many more tries than anyone; because you have a desperation to score.
“The tries that he scores are similar to the ones I would have scored. He’s really lucky because you might have two, three players who might come up with something. I like to think that I was thinking of it already and every time one of them had the ball I’d need to be near them, ready for something to happen. They might have been on the other side of the pitch but if there was space that I could see, I had to anticipate that they would see it and put the ball there, too. But he’s got four, five of these players in his team – whether at Bordeaux or France – so there’s always going to be the opportunity. Wings struggle for chances so much currently but he’s the opposite.
“The game is slightly different over there [in France]. There’s more of an appetite to offload and... play rugby; from a young age. It’s very much, ‘we play rugby, we’ll kick as a last resort’. Bristol are breaking the mould [in the Premiership] slightly but for many years it has been: we exit here, get a line-out here, attack down here. And that’s it. You were limited already. Whereas there, if it’s on, it’s on, and they’ll play. So, you’re always ready for a chance, any time.”
One man who has been on the end of Bielle-Biarrey’s devastating club form is Paul Gustard, England’s former defence guru and now head coach at Stade Francais. Gustard’s side fell 46-19 to Bordeaux in January, with Bielle-Biarrey – nurtured in the same Grenoble academy as Vincent Clerc and Ange Capuozzo – scoring twice. For Gustard, it is simple. Bielle-Biarrey is a “superstar” who has become more integral to France’s cause than their other wing, and a Bordeaux team-mate, Damian Penaud.
“He’s freakishly fast with a good kicking game,” said Gustard. “What we tried to do when we played Bordeaux is to limit the freedom of space. He has the ability to beat people in close quarters – he’s strong with great feet, he can step you close up, as we found out to our demise when he stepped our wing; a simple one-on-one tackle within two metres. He went round the corner for a seven-pointer. He had two metres to tackle him and put him in touch but Bielle-Biarrey stepped him.
“There was another try where he saw space in behind our 10 in the middle of the field but his acceleration was such that one wrong bounce of the ball led to another seven points. It was a nothing kick almost; he saw space behind our 10, was quick enough to chase – and you make your own luck sometimes.
Louis Bielle-Biarrey try! ????
The young Bordeaux Bègles star chases his own kick up the pitch before an awkward bounce of the ball helps him in scoring ???? pic.twitter.com/LUdVkyQvuO
— Premier Sports (@PremSportsTV) January 4, 2025
“But, two years ago to where he is now... Christ, he’s a superstar. He is probably ahead of Penaud now in the France pecking order. A different style of player – and I love Penaud – but this guy has something extra special.”
As Wales, England, Italy and now Ireland have discovered over the past six weeks.
