Bastareaud out of France 6 Nations squad after homophobia ban
PARIS: Mathieu Bastareaud was first included and then hours later dropped from France coach Jacques Brunel’s Six Nations squad announced yesterday after he was banned over a homophobic slur.
Although initially included, Bastareaud received a three-week ban from European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR) yesterday which ends a day after France’s opening tournament match against Ireland on February 3.
Bastareaud’s selection was no surprise as Brunel had defended the Toulon back on Tuesday following the controversial comment used by the 29-year-old in a match against Treviso on Sunday that was heard on live television. Brunel had said on Tuesday that he would “punish” Bastareaud by not selecting him and that he hoped the powerful runner would escape a ban, claiming “I don’t believe he could have acted in such a way”.
Bastareaud was heard on live television, and later apologised on Twitter for calling Treviso’s Sebastian Negri a “faggot”, seemingly in response to a similar insult. There had been fears he could receive a longer ban that would see Bastareaud miss the whole of the Six Nations but he will now be available for the trip to Scotland on February 11. He was replaced by Stade Francais centre Jonathan Danty-in physiological terms a like-for-like substitute. In his first squad selection as head of the French team since taking over from sacked veteran Guy Noves last month, Brunel recalled experienced Clermont half-back Morgan Para for his first inclusion in two years.
Brunel dropped out-of-form Montpellier No.8 Louis Picamoles and Toulon fly-half Francois Trinh-Duc, who has lost his place at both club and country to young star Anthony Belleau. Parra had not played for France since their crushing 62-13 defeat to New Zealand in the 2015 World Cup quarter-finals.
But while Noves constantly tinkered with his half-back pairing-he picked nine different combinations in his first 19 matches-Brunel seems to have opted for a measure of stability in recalling Parra.— AFP