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Watching the mass brawl between Toulon and Stade
Francais recently got me thinking about the
importance of the physical aspect in rugby,
especially the French variety.
Some
people decry such behaviour and say it has no place
in the game, but not me, and dare I say it not the
majority of those who either pay to attend or watch
from their armchairs.
As
long as there’s no serious long-term injury it seems
to me that rugby punch-ups are part and parcel of
what is after all a very physical game.
When
I was a kid growing up in England the BBC
commentator Bill McLaren used to describe such
incidents as “a bit of rough and tumble” in his
laconic Scottish drool, and often it’s more a case
of handbags at six yards rather than serious
assault.
Still, I’d far rather watch a couple of sixteen
stone props slugging it out than an overpaid
footballer swallow diving theatrically at the mere
hint of an opponent getting within touching
distance.
Bearing that in mind I thought a quick selection of
some of rugby’s more ‘physical’ moments might make
for entertaining viewing, beginning with that recent
brawl at the Stade Mayol (www.youtube.com).
The
French don’t seem to mind the odd on-field dust-up –
they even have their own phrase for it:
bagarre générale.
The
Toulon fight was sparked by an ongoing niggle
between opposing props David Banquet (Toulon) and
Rodgrio Roncero (Stade), but the real action – and
you’ll have to watch this a couple of times to
really catch it – is dished out by Toulon’s South
African scrum-half Norman Jordaan (number nine).
You’ll see him at the top of melee first hauling
over a Stade player by the collar then, within
seconds, he lays out not one but two more Stade
players with a destructive right forearm that Mike
Tyson would have been proud of. Three down in five
seconds... not bad for a wee fella.
The
second one is from a Beziers v Perpignan match –
added to You Tube appropriately enough on Boxing Day
2006 – and is magnificent for the action/reaction of
the referee
(www.youtube.com)
who just wonders around aimlessly taking in the
carnage being dished out around him. Clearly not
interested in getting anywhere near the mayhem, he
waits for the fight to subside before somehow
picking out two players – surely at random – and
showing them the red card.
My
third choice is from 1991 and features Toulon again
– yeah, they’ve got a bit of history in this sort of
thing – and while it goes on for 10 minutes believe
me it is well worth watching (www.youtube.com).
The beauty is in the pre-planned almost ritualistic
aspect to it with the shenanigans starting in the
tunnel before the match as the Toulon captain tried
their usual trick of bending down to tie a boot lace
in an attempt to force the Bordeaux players to walk
out alone in front of the baying Stade Mayol crowd.
Within seconds the ref is having to
step in as words are clearly exchanged and you can
feel the seething animosity as the two teams line up
opposite each other before the kick off. Toulon then
deliberately boot the ball out directly from the
kick off to ensure a mid-pitch scrum, and it goes
off from there really. A classic.
My final video this time isn’t rugby
and has no fighting, but is possibly the funniest
thing I’ve seen on You Tube this year and does
feature a top level sportsman (Ivan Ukhov)
demonstrating just why you shouldn’t get drunk
before an international high jump competition:
uk.youtube.com
And if you fancy another angle try
this one:
uk.youtube.com
Why We Love French Rugby -
Part I
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