France
head coach Marc Lièvremont has revealed that he is still
waiting for an apology from disgraced centre Mathieu
Bastareaud
after he lied about being mugged while
on tour with ‘Les Bleus’ in New Zealand.
Lièvremont's incredible admission further damages
Bastareaud’s already tarnished reputation, and you might
have thought the troubled young international would have had
the sense to apologize to his national coach by now. But
apparently not, according to Lièvremont anyway.
Many
felt the 21-year-old Stade Francais player got off lightly
when he was handed a three-month international suspension
commuted to community service, but his lack of apology to
Lièvremont has clearly irked the coach sufficiently for him
to go public with his feelings this week.
Up until
now Lièvremont has played a largely protective and
understanding role, especially once Bastareaud’s mental
problems were disclosed upon his return from New Zealand.
But it seems the France coach now feels (quite rightly) that
an apology is long overdue.
“The
ideal thing would be for him to talk about it, to say sorry
to his team-mates, the staff, New Zealand, that he declares
a kind of mea culpa and then it’s all settled,” said
Lièvremont. “I’m waiting for him to do that and I told him
that,” he added.
Deposed
France captain Lionel Nallet, meanwhile, has admitted
to being “a little disappointed” following Lièvremont's
announcement that
Thierry Dusautoir will now skipper
‘Les Bleus’.
“I am
not offended,” said Nallet. “I understand and accept the
decision of Marc, he is the boss,” added the Racing-Metro 92
lock.
Elsewhere, the French Barbarians have
confirmed they will play a Europe XV in Brussels on
November 14 as part of FIRA’s 75th anniversary
celebrations. The game will be played at the Stade du Roi
Baudoin, with the Europe XV including players from Georgia,
Romania, Spain, Portugal and Belgium. It will be coached by
Michael Arpaillange (of FIRA), Tomasz Putra (of Poland) and
Tomaz Morais (of Portugal).
Argentina coach Santiago Phelan has named a 24-man
training squad ahead of the forthcoming November
internationals.
The
squad is due to have a three-day session at Meuden, Paris,
between October 25-27, with former France scrum-half Fabien
Galthié also helping with the coaching.
Phelan
has included Toulon fly-half Felipe Contepomi in the squad
despite the player having missed the entire season so far
due to a knee injury he sustained with previous club
Leinster.
Juan
Martin Hernandez has been omitted due to his current playing
commitments with the Natal Sharks in South Africa, but he is
expected to play in the internationals. Stade Francais’ Juan
Manuel Leguizamon is also absent, but due to injury.
Argentina training
squad:
Forwards: Rodrigo Roncero, Juan Pablo Orlandi, Martin
Scelzo, Pablo Henn, Mario Ledesma, Alberto Vernet Basualdo,
Alvaro Tejeda, Esteban Lozada, Patricio Albacete, Manuel
Carizza, Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe, Alejandro Abadie,
Alejandro Campos, Tomas Leonardi
Backs: Nicolas Vergallo, Benjamin Urdapilleta, Felipe
Contepomi (captain), Ignacio Mieres, Matias Viazzo, Federico
Martin Aramburu, Horacio Agulla, Lucas Borges, Marcelo
Bosch, Martin Rodriguez.
