A rugby miscellany compiled by
JOHNNY WATTERSON
Suspended: Toulon president is grumpy, but not an old git
TOULON president Mourad Boudjellal has been handed a 130-day suspension after complaining his side were the victims of “refereeing sodomy”. Boudjellal hit out at the match officials after his side lost a Top 14 game against Clermont earlier this month.
Boudjellal, who refused to apologise, will not have access to “the pitch, the (players and referees) dressingroom and corridors to these zones during 130 days – until June 3rd.
“French rugby is racist. It reflects a France which is very inward looking and conservative,” said Boudjellal, shooting from the hip. “I’ve had racist insults hurled at me in stadiums. I regularly receive letters calling me a ‘dirty Arab’, telling me I should return to Algeria. No one can give me lessons on morality, education and politeness, especially in the rugby environment.
“This summons demonstrates the limits of rugby . . . for me, people who are shocked by the word ‘sodomy’ are old gits and I do not wish to be an old git,” he added.
The situation looks set to become a political issue as French secretary of state for youth Jeannette Bougrab has come out in support of Boudjellal.
Arrogance: English clubs fail to offer evidence to back up rugby chief's views
PREMIER Rugby’s CEO Mark McCafferty (right) has quite a neck. The man at the top of English club rugby’s main competition wants to have eight English and French teams in future Heineken Cup competitions and eight from the PRO 12. He’s fed up with the cosy Celtic-Italian coalition so the ERC should throw out Italian, Scottish, Welsh or Irish clubs. Does that sound a little, eh, colonial?
The team allocation in the Heineken Cup is 11 from the PRO 12, seven from the Premiership and six from France. McCafferty said: “There will be concerns it could lead to one or two countries not being represented in the Heineken Cup. But the price you pay for that inclusivity is not necessarily having the best against the best,” he said.
No change yet please, at least until the English sides cut the mustard with just one club, Saracens, in the last eight this season.
* THANKS to a sharp-eyed reader it can be revealed why Munster’s Thomond Park is such a terrible place for teams to visit. The Rev Patrick S D Dinneen, MA, who people will know from his Irish-English Dictionary circa 1927, describes words, phrases and idioms in the Irish language.
One of these words is Mumha(n), which is the province of Munster. However the dictionary also lists another word for Mumha, which is “a dark cave”. Northampton, Gloucester and many other teams would surely have little disagreement with that interpretation.
* STEVEN Sykes has signed again with the Sharks in South Africa ahead of the Super Rugby campaign, just over six months after joining Leinster. What? Who is he? The 27-year-old lock arrived in Dublin, got injured and went home. He played four times for the province. Brad Thorn, are you listening in Japan? Leinster need a secondrow.
