Bastareaud condemned after seeing red for brutal hit on Samson
FORMER rugby players and broadcasters have united in condemning French international Mathieu Bastareaud for his sending off in Toulon’s Top 14 victory over Castres on Sunday.
The 47-times capped midfield battering ram saw red 12 minutes from time for a brutal forearm smash Castres lock Christophe Samson while laying prone on the ground with Toulon at the time trailing 27-20.
Bastareaud seemed to take exception to a tackle by Samson, who himself looked annoyed by a hit on team-mate Camille Gerondeau.
And while Samson was defenceless on the turf, facing away from Bastareaud, the Toulon captain dropped to his knees and aimed a blow to the Castres player’s head.
The referee took action against both players, showing a yellow card to Samson before showing red to Bastareaud.
Sky Sports commentator Miles Harrison described the incident as “bordering on assault”.
Despite being a man down Toulon battled back to get their Top 14 show on the road with a 28-27 history but they’re likely to be without Bastareaud for some time with a lengthy ban likely. The likes of Brian Moore have suggested he should expect at least a three month sanction
The centre, who skippered France on their summer tour of New Zealand, has a chequered disciplinary record. He missed the start of this year’s Six Nations while serving a three-week ban for using homophobic slurs against Benetton’s Sebastian Negri in a Champions Cup game.
Latest Welsh rugby news Former England internationals Brian Moore and Andy Goode took to social media to decry the actions of Bastareaud.
“Cue protestations of ‘He’s not that sort of player’ which he clearly is,” said former hooker and respected BBC TV pundit Moore.
“Three months minimum, if they do their job properly.”