Pontious, you said:
I've recently trained to fly Airbuses after 4000+ hours on Med/Heavy Boeings. The instructors on my previous types were Boeing trained and one was a former Heavy Jet Test Pilot. They stressed from very early in the training course the use and misuse of the rudder at high speed and high altitude and we were taught that full rudder reversals were to be avoided.
You are extremely correct, the rudder should never be abused at high speeds, and full rudder reversals should (indeed must) be avoided.
However I doubt seriously that this pilot, who obviously used the rudder to assist the
fully deflected ailerons in rolling the aircraft level, ever intended to move the rudder to full deflection. Furthermore, I doubt seriously that he even knew the rudder was fully deflected, perhaps thinking the larger than expected heading changes were caused by the wake turbulance rather than a fully deflecting rudder.
Since all if this happened in the space of a few seconds, the pilot probably never realised that he was actually performing a full rudder reversal. A 25% deflected rudder reversal for example would be no big deal, well within the Part 25 structural limits for the fin. However, an unintentional full rudder reversal is a completely different matter.
I'm just about certain that this pilot never knew that he was performing full rudder reversals, and I'm pretty sure he didn't know about the design limitations of the rudder limiting system on this aircraft.