No wonder there are a string of French clubs willing to fork out a seven figure sum to secure the signature of Leigh Halfpenny on a contract for the next few years.
The British & Irish Lions full back still has a year to run on his Cardiff Blues contract, but the suitors are out in force as they try to tempt him away from Wales after his world clas performances on tour in Australia this summer.
The 24-year-old didn’t just register a few new landmarks on his way to being named Man of the Series in Australia as the Lions won their first Test series in 16 years – he re-wrote the record book.
His 21 points in the record high 41-16 series deciding victory in the third Test in Sydney enabled him to overcome Jonny Wilkinson and Stephen Jones’ previous best individual score of 20 in a Test match.
The Cardiff Blues full back also hoisted his Test series tally to 49 in Sydney to surpass kicking coach Neil Jenkins’ previous best of 41. His 13 penalties in the series also matched Jenkins’ record from the 1997 series triumph in South Africa.
His tour tally of 114 points in six appearances, one of them off the replacements bench, made him the first tour centurion in 16 years – Tim Stimpson was the last to reach three figures with 111 points in 1997 – and his average of 19 points per game was more than three points higher than the previous tour record.
His Test match average was also three points higher than any other Lion had achieved in a series of more than one game, or more than one appearance in a series. Tony Ward scored 18 points in one game in 1980 and Wilkinson kicked 20 points in the one-off Test against Argentina in 2005.
But Halfpenny’s average of 16.33 points per game took him exactly three points past Jenkins’ 1997 landmark in the Lions’ 2-1 victory in South Africa. Is there a better goalkicker in world rugby than the Welshman at present?
With only five failures in 45 kicks at goal, one of which rebounded off the cross bar from 45 metres, he enjoyed an 89% success rate on tour. In the pressure cooker atmosphere of the three-match Test series he landed 18/22 kicks, missing from 45 and 55 metres with two penalty attempts, for an 82% success rate
Leigh Halfpenny Records
49 – Most points scored by a Lion in a Test series, beating Neil Jenkins' 41 in 1997. The previous best in Australia was 38 in 1989 by Gavin Hastings
21 – Most points scored by a Lion in a Test, beating Jonny Wilkinson (v Argentina 2005) and Stephen Jones (2nd Test v South Africa 2009)
19 – Most penalties on tour in Australia, beating Gavin Hasting's prevoius best of 17 in 1989
13 – Equalled the record number of penalties scored by a Lion in a Test series, matching Neil Jenkins in 1997
5 – Equalled the highest number of penalties scored by a Lion in a Test in Australia, matching his second Test haul in Melbourne and Gavin Hastings in the third Test in 1989
Leigh Halfpenny's kicking record on tour
P C C P C C C C C C C CX C C C P C P P C C P C P C P PX C P PX P P P P P PX C P P P P P C CX C
21 Cons + 19 Pens = 40/45 = 89%
| Tour | Pts / Games | Av | Player | Tries / Games | Player |
| 1888 | 73 (28) | 2.6 | Andrew Stoddart (E) | 22 (28) | Andrew Stoddart (E) |
| 1891 | 81 (16) | 5.06 | Arthur Rotherham (E) | 31 (20) | Randolph Aston (E) |
| 1896 | 127 (21) | 6.04 | Fred Byrne (E) | 19 (20) | Larry Bulger (I) |
| 1899 | 136 (20) | 6.8 | Charlie Adamson (E) | 12 (19) | Gwyn Nicholls (W) |
| 1903 | 61 (22) | 2.8 | Reg Skrimshire (W) | 10 (22) | Reg Skrimshire (W) |
| 1904 | 101 (18) | 5.6 | Percy Bush (W) | 11 (18) | Percy Bush (W) |
| 1908 | 67 (16) | 4.18 | Reggie Gibbs (W) | 14 (16) | Reggie Gibbs (W) |
| 1910 | 65 (16) | 4.06 | Charles Pillman (E) |
9 (14) / 9 (17) |
Maurice Neale (E) / Alex Foster (I) |
| 1924 | 37 (12) | 3.08 | Tom Voyce (E) | 7 (8) | Billy Wallace (E) |
| 1930 | 77 (19) | 4.05 | Brian Black (E) | 17 (19) | Tony Novis (E) |
| 1938 | 53 (16) | 3.31 | Russell Taylor (W) | 10 (12) | Elvet Jones (W) |
| 1950 | 96 (15) | 6.4 | Malcolm Thomas (W) | 16 (17) | Ken Jones (W) |
| 1955 | 58 (13) | 4.46 | Cecil Pedlow (I) | 16 (15) | Tony O'Reilly (I) |
| 1959 | 112 (18) | 6.22 | David Hewitt (I) | 22 (23) | Tony O'Reilly (I) |
| 1962 | 67 (15) | 4.46 | John Willcox (E) | 8 (14) / 8 (13) | Arthur Smith (S) / D.Ken Jones (W) |
| 1966 | 90 (20) | 4.5 | Stewart Wilson (S) | 14 (23) | Dewi Bebb (W) |
| 1968 | 104 (8) | 13 | Bob Hiller (E) | 6 (11) / 6 (8) | Sandy Hinshelwood (S) / Gareth Edwards (W) |
| 1971 | 188 (17) | 11.05 | Barry John (W) | 18 (14) | John Bevan (W) |
| 1974 | 156 (15) | 10.04 | Andy Irvine (S) | 13 (11) | Tom Grace (I) |
| 1977 | 125 (15) | 8.33 | Phil Bennett (W) | 11 (19) | Andy Irvine (S) |
| 1980 | 60 (7) | 8.57 | Ollie Campbell (I) | 5 (5) | Mike Slemen (E) |
| 1983 | 124 (11) | 11.27 | Ollie Campbell (I) | 9 (11) | John Carleton (E) |
| 1989 | 66 (5) / 66 (7) | 13.2 / 9.42 | Peter Dods (S) / Gavin Hastings (S) | 7 (7) | Brendan Mullin (I) |
| 1993 | 101 (9) | 11.22 | Gavin Hastings (S) | 4 (7) | Ieuan Evans (W) |
| 1997 | 111 (7) | 15.86 | Tim Stimpson (E) | 7 (8) | John Bentley (E) / Tony Underwood (E) |
| 2001 | 72 (5) | 14.4 | Jonny Wilkinson (E) | 10 (7) | Jason Robinson (E) |
| 2005 | 53 (4) | 13.25 | Charlie Hodgson (E) | 6 (5) | Shane Williams (W) |
| 2009 | 65 (5) | 13 | Stephen Jones (W) | 5 (6) | Ugo Monye (E) |
| 2013 | 114 (6) | 19 | Leigh Halfpenny (W) | 4 (4) / 4 (7) | Alex Cuthbert (W) / George North (W) |
