French resistance: ‘It was never a red card’
French centre Geoffrey Doumayrou has hit out at the match officials’ decision to issue a red card to the team-mate Benjamin Fall in Saturday night’s defeat to the All Blacks.
The La Rochelle midfielder lamented the decision to dismiss the French fullback in the 12th minute of the Wellington test, which the All Blacks won, 26-13, to clinch the three-match series.
He told the AFP news agency, in a report published by French newspaper L’Equipe, that France had copped a ‘‘red card, which in my opinion is not there’’.
Doumayrou, who had a try disallowed when a video replay showed he lost the ball in a lunge for the line, said Fall was ‘‘unbalanced’’ while challenging for the ball.
He felt the duel with Beauden Barrett was ‘‘an aerial fight’’. ‘‘There is never a red card.’’ Doumayrou conceded it was ‘‘the straight application of the regulation’’ but felt the match officials should have taken into account that there had been ‘‘a fault of the All Blacks’’ with Fall ‘‘unbalanced’’ while challenging for the ball.
He also appealed for consistency, saying the All Blacks made ‘‘a lot of mistakes in their 22 area’’ and that a late charge on French halfback Morgan Parra in the second half attracted only a penalty, not a yellow card.
‘‘From one week to another, we see that it’s the same. I think it’s disappointing because I think if we [played] the whole match with 15, there was something to do.’’
Flanker Ke´ lian Galletier, one of France’s best performers, told France’s Rugby Rama website that he felt Fall ‘‘played the ball’’.
‘‘If you want to beat the All Blacks, everything has to be perfect. It was not the case.’’ France flanker Ke´ lian Galletier
‘‘But the rule is like that . . . you have to accept it. The referees only applied it.
‘‘The only think that I ask is that it be arbitrated all the time.
‘‘If you want to beat the All Blacks, everything has to be perfect. It was not the case.’’
France coach Jacques Brunel would not be drawn at the postmatch press conference about the impact of the red card, preferring to praise the character of his team for their performance after the dismissal.
He also had no argument about the decision to deny Doumayrou a try, but felt debutant hooker Pierre Bourgarit scored a legitimate try late in the second half.
Bourgarit made a burst through the All Blacks defence and referee Angus Gardner initially awarded a try before reversing his decision when the video referee advised Bourgarit had used his knees to effect a double movement after being tackled close to the chalk.
Brunel felt the 20-year-old La Rochelle rake was robbed.
‘‘At normal speed, he extended the arm, it’s the same movement,’’ he said in a Rugby Rama report.
Galletier, who formed a dominant back row with Kevin Gourdon and Mathieu Babillot, was proud that the French never gave up after the red card setback.
‘‘Not many people believe in us, but we are not on vacation,’’ he said.