The current Toulon coach Bernard Laporte has had his say on a couple of things that have been bothering him in France's Top 14. He started with referees after being called in front of a disciplinary committee to explain his comments about the officials after Toulon's recent loss to Bernard Jackman's Grenoble. Laporte labelled the refereeing "hopeless, completely incompetent" and said his side were "robbed".
Laporte was so incensed by the loss that there was speculation he may quit his job. The referee Laurent Cardona who bore the brunt of Laporte's ire reportedly text the former France coach to offer an olive branch, an act that Laporte said he could "shove up his arse"
He welcomes the chance to explain himself though saying:
"I would be happy to meet members of the commission and talk with them,
I want to know, for example, why a player [Sebastien Chabal] who punches someone only gets a three-match suspension or is not even sanctioned, while another, [Toulon scrum-half] Sebastien Tillous-Borde, for example, gets four weeks for stepping on someone. If one has the right to punch, I will notify my players instead of telling them to be disciplined."
For good measure he also laid into the general standard of the league:
"There has to come a time when someone says 'stop'. The problem is that there is only me and Guy [Novès, Toulouse's manager] who speak out. The Top 14 is crap and everyone is bored stiff."
Anyone who has tried to watch the paint drying numbness that is the Top 14 will surely agree there.
(ESPN)
