Fans Abuse Upsets Nadolo
Walking past a group of MHR supporters and they are telling me to piss off in French, real cool- Nemani Nadolo
Nemani Nadolo has spoken of his frustration at a section of Montpellier fans who abused him and his teammates in the wake of their shock loss in the Top14 Final yesterday in the Stade de France. Castres stunned Montpellier to claim a surprise 29-13 victory in Sunday’s engrossing Top 14 final in front a packed stadium. Montpellier came into the meeting as strong favourites, having finished top of the table at the end of the regular season and Vern Cotter’s men were high on confidence following a resounding 40-14 semifinal win over Lyon.
Their opponents, by contrast, had only taken the sixth and final playoff berth, edging out Toulouse and Racing 92 en route to the decider in Paris. However, a section of Montpellier fans didn’t have much sympathy for the team they allegedly support. Nadolo posted: “Gutted we couldn’t get the win for the people of Montpellier tonight. My second attempt at trying to win something and I’ve come short twice.
“In saying that the abuse we copped from our own @MHR_official supporters is appalling. It wasn’t our intention to lose tonight.”
Nadolo says the abuse came from fans at the stadium. “Walking past a group of MHR supporters and they are telling me to piss off in French, real cool.” Former Wallaby captain Matt Giteau suggested: “They are fans mate not supporters.. supporters SUPPORT the team through all.. bad luck on the game. Been there many times bro”.
This is not Nadolo’s first run in with French rugby fans. In February he revealed that he was racially abused in front of family members while on a night out following a Top 14 match. The 137kg wing was enjoying a meal in Montpellier with members of his family who had flown to France to visit him.
“I’m out in Montpellier with my family who came from overseas to c me,” Nadolo posted on Twitter. “supporter who is drunk said to me ‘not bad for a monkey to win the game for MHR in Clermont’. Now he was drunk but wow.”