What were you doing at 22? Personally, I was playing rugby on Sundays with my mates, with varying degrees of success. I missed one training session in two because of aching muscles and/or work. Louis Bielle-Biarrey, meanwhile, simply cannot stop sending the numbers into orbit and showing the entire rugby world just what a phenomenon he is.

Modestly built for a modern rugby player (1.84m, 84kg), the La Tronche (Isère) native is nonetheless a formidable athlete, blessed with supersonic pace (up to 37.8 km/h), fearsome footwork and, on top of that, very sound tackling technique.

Just ask Alexandre Tchaptchet, LOU’s lively back. On Saturday evening against UBB, the Lyon full-back saw nothing but a high-speed train flash past him. No stop at the station, no connection, no obstacle on the line: next stop, the Lyon in-goal for the France international, who bamboozled Tchaptchet in a tight space. Bielle-Biarrey – as the saying goes – left his calling card, and grabbed a brace along the way, his fifth and sixth tries of the season.

18 tries in 19 caps

That latest performance allowed him to break another record and become UBB’s all-time leading try-scorer. Let us say it again: the lad is only 22. He therefore moves past a former hero of the Gironde club, Australian Blair Connor, with a total of 47 tries (17 scored in the Champions Cup, 30 in Top 14). The player who came through at Seyssins and then Grenoble has, at this stage of the season, played 77 matches in a UBB shirt. Quite simply monstrous.

Worth remembering that his team-mate Damian Penaud is not far behind him on that try chart, sitting on 44. Last year, with France, UBB and across all competitions, the Bordeaux rocket scored 33 tries in 30 matches. Just like that. And what to make of his 18 tries in only 19 caps… By way of comparison, Serge Blanco, a star for France from 1980 to 1991, dotted down 38 tries, the same as a certain Damian Penaud. At this rate, the man from La Tronche is well on his way to breaking a few more records.

Those are statistics that, incidentally, bring to mind All Blacks wing/full-back Will Jordan, who has 43 tries in 49 caps. But Bielle-Biarrey is something else. And at just 22, this outstanding finisher is nowhere near done amazing us. On Monday evening, the helmeted wing was even handed the award for best international player for last season. A more than deserved distinction, so much damage has “LBB” done to opposition defences. With, as a bonus, the trophy for best try, the one scored against Pau last season with neat contributions from Uberti and Carbery. A treat for the eyes.

During the last Six Nations, Philippe Sella even told us he was “pleasantly surprised by this player’s qualities, as much offensively as defensively”. When a former great talks about a future star… There is no doubt Louis Bielle-Biarrey will have other records in his sights. And France will be able to count on their phenomenon for a long time to come. To the great delight of all his supporters.