FRENCH COLUMN
David Barnes reports on the latest concerns over player dissent
The boss of French rugby referees has just blown the whistle on the Top 14’s growing band of mouthy, dissenting players. According to Didier Mene, in charge of the match officials at the French Rugby Federation, the situation has reached crisis point.
And he says the warnings against such behaviour sent by League president Paul Goze to all clubs before the season started has had no impact whatsoever.
Mene has made clear to his men that the fightback must start here and he expects decisive action on the field to stop the excesses.
Like players throwing up their arms in horror at decisions, demanding yellow cards for opponents and video replays of rulings of which they disapprove.
The war zone extends to directors and coaches with Mene claiming that senseless attacks on refs has become “a national sport”.
He adds: “The climate surrounding professional has grown worse. You see it with the players screaming for video replays, raising their arms to the sky over every decision. Some of them never stop talking on the pretext they are captains.”
Mene believes that the development of referees as communicators kitted out with microphones and ready to explain their decisions has had a dangerous side-effect.
“It has made referees more accessible and some people are taking advantage of that,” he says.
Jean-Claude Doulcet was a top referee from 1971 to 1991 before the game turned professional and accepts: “It is all linked to money and the pressure that goes with it.”
He is convinced the problem of dissent can only be solved by a strict application of the ten-metre rule by which erring players are forced back towards their own try line.
Doulcet says: “That rule is not applied enough today. If it cost players three points, it would calm them down.” Just as it did last Saturday when a distant penalty for Racing, 6-3 behind in a tight game with Montpellier, was moved forward for dissent, allowing South African Johann Goosen to bring the scores level.
Or, similar sanctions handed out to Toulon’s Mamuka Gorgadze for talking too much in recent games against Grenoble and Lyon.
Doulcet adds: “When you contest a decision, you move back. That happened in every match with me.
“I had colleagues who would take them back 30 metres if they had to. Now it is very, very rare to see the rule in action.”
Oyonnax full-back Silvere Tian was banned for 15 months, reduced to nine on appeal, for issuing physical threats to a ref after being sent off last season.
Referee chief Mene said: “That was an electric shock for the League and I think it pushed them into writing to all the clubs, but I have not see a lot of difference in behaviour.”
Not only on the field, but off it. In fact, Clermont reacted in scandalised manner following their narrow defeat by Racing in their Top 14 semi-final last season.
To such a point they cast doubt on the neutrality of the referee. For example, coach Franck Azema said: “It’s a result of either incompetence or dishonesty. Or we will have to send in a pack of labradors to deliver a case of white sticks.”
And his president Eric de Cromieres wrote an open letter to both the League and Federation in which he said: “There were ten incidents all reffed in favour of the same team. This defies the rules of simple statistics, chance and probabilities.”
In yesterday’s action there was much relief for Pau after six defeats on the spin, four of them in the league. A touch fortunate perhaps to meet the champions of Racing without their raft of international stars and megastar Dan Carter among their injured.
But they took advantage well to record a 26-17 success which owed much to the chronic indiscipline of Racing who conceded five free kicks in the opening ten minutes.
Leading inevitably to an early yellow card for former Toulon giant Ali Williams, now out of retirement. This was a tough time for South African lock Gerbrandt Grobler to be making his debut after a two-year drugs ban. Especially when Tom Taylor, another ex-Toulon performer, was in such clinical form with his kicking. So prolific is he this season he even relegated Kiwi legend Colin Slade to the bench here.
Sixteen points flowed off his boot to keep Racing off the pace throughout and outside of the top six with just one win on their travels in six attempts.
Fijian winger Watisoni Votu was the first to pierce the Racing try-line, one soon countered after the break by a typical ball-carrying surge allowing hooker Dimitri Szarzewski to score.
Pau’s own pack, though deficient in recent times, appeared strengthened by the coaching of Carl Hayman and stood up well to the challenge.
Slade, introduced early in the second half, quickly made his mark by serving young winger Bastien Pourailly with his first try for the club.
And Taylor’s 100 per cent kicking performance delivered the win despite Chris Masoe capitalising on a 30-yard burst from winger Marc Andreu to match Pau on tries.
Montpellier had to suffer a tantrum from Fijian winger Timoci Nagusa before the start of their 25-20 win against Lyon.
He had driven them to distraction after returning from his homeland many weeks after his scheduled arrival for the season.
Although he was on the team sheet, his name did not appear on the shirt ordered specially to celebrate Montpellier’s 30th birthday and bearing all the other names on the day.
Nagusa issued a moaning tweet which, naturally, was quickly countered by his long-suffering club.
He did not last for long, earning a yellow card after half an hour for illicitly stopping a certain try from Lyon full-back Delon Armitage.
Promoted Lyon were no easy touch after their inspirational victory over Toulon and scored the opening two tries through English No.8 Carl Fearns, his third of the season, and lock Felix Lambey.
They even scored a third just nine minutes from time through substitute Samoan back-rower Taiasina Tuifua to equalise 18-18 and set up a grandstand finish.
Demetri Catrakilis, however, had been steadily garnering 17 points with his kicking and, when Montpellier scored their first try five minutes from the end through full-back Joffrey Michel, it was enough for victory.
Castres found a mid-table scrap at home to Brive to their taste and ran out 32-13 winners. Thanks largely to the extraordinary kicking ability of their Argentine fly-half Benjamin Urdapilleta. He recorded 17 points but the Castres performance was most enlivened by outstanding youngster Antoine Dupont at scrum-half.
His long, electrifying slaloms mark him out as a future part of the fittings for France. Just a pity for Castres he is on his way to Toulouse next season.
The first try went to Castres courtesy of No. 8 Alex Tulou after Brive had stopped winger Geoffrey Palis close to the line.
Brive were down to 14 men at the time after a yellow card for centre Arnaud Mignardi who returned to the pitch to score a try for himself within three minutes.
Urdapilleta’s festival was abruptly ended before the hour when he was carried off on a stretcher, injured by Brive’s Benjamin Lapeyre whose tackle brought a yellow card.
Castres hooker Jody Jenneker soon punished that rash gesture by scoring a second try for Castres and putting them out of danger.
Bordeaux-Begles secured their fifth win in six games with a topsy-turvy and finally dramati 24-22 win at Grenoble. Although leading 13-8 at the break, they were behind to tries from full-back Gio Aplon, Irish centre Chris Farrell and sub scrum-half Lilian Saseras towards the close.
That is when Bordeaux, with tries from Yann Lesgourgues and Nans Ducuing already in the bag, scored a decisive third two minutes from time through Lionel Beauxis.
“The problem of dissent can only be solved by a strict application of the ten-metre rule”