France centre Gaël Fickou is trying to add another string to his bow after knocking over his first penalty as a pro for club side Toulouse.
The 22-year-old played in four of France’s five games in this year’s RBS 6 Nations before featuring in both of the summer Tests against Argentina in June.
But while he has always been known for his graceful running and ability with ball in hand, he proved in Toulouse’s win against Montpellier that he can offer a lot more.
With Florian Fritz, Toulouse’s usual long-distance kicker, in the sin-bin, Fickou knocked over three points from over 45m to help them to a 20-12 success on the opening day of the Top 14 season.
Toulouse backs coach Jean-Baptiste Elissalde, the former France scrum-half, explained that Fickou has been working hard to add goal-kicking to his repertoire of skills.
He explained: “We’re trying to find some long distance kickers. We know that Florian gets about three a season.
“Gael has enjoyed it. We work on it a lot. The first one went well, the second not quite as much. But he’s just starting out.”
Fickou wasn’t the only French international involved for Toulouse, with Yoann Huget making his return from injury at full-back, while Sébastien Bézy pulled the strings at scrum-half.
And the latter admits there is still more to come from his Toulouse team as they get their Top 14 campaign underway.
He said: “We got four points, which is good, but in terms of the game there is lots to work on.
“We’re pleased with the win because we were playing a good team and for a first game we knew it would be tough.”
