Union Bordeaux-Bègles announced on Saturday, a few hours before their 64-5 win over Racing 92, that Louis Bielle-Biarrey has extended his contract by two more seasons, until June 2029. The 23-year-old wing’s deal was due to run out on 30 June 2027.

One number explains why the club were so keen to keep him: twenty-nine tries in twenty-seven caps for France. More tries than matches played. Damian Penaud, the leading try scorer in France’s history, has forty-one in sixty caps.

Grenoble, then everything moved fast

A Grenoble academy product, born in La Tronche, he joined Bordeaux-Bègles in 2021. He broke into the France squad just before the 2023 World Cup and has not left it since. Two Six Nations titles, in 2025 and 2026, and player of the championship in 2026.

Only this week, Planet Rugby ranked him the best wing in the world, ahead of Will Jordan and Cheslin Kolbe.

A deal that had been dragging on for months

The extension was expected. President Laurent Marti had met him in early August, and his agent Jérôme Chabran said as early as July that “Louis’s future should be written at UBB”. The player had not been offered to any other club.

There was still the Thomas Ramos precedent: he left for Racing 92 when Toulouse believed he was staying. As long as nothing was signed, doubt remained. It is now gone.