The 'bastards' who booed Bakkies
Toulon boss Mourad Boudjellal took aim at the Stade Bordeaux spectators for showing "disrespect" to one of the game's greatest players.
Stade Francais stunned triple European champions Toulon 33-16 last Friday to reach the French Top 14 Final.
Led by the irrepressible Italian back row forward Sergio Parisse, Stade scored tries through flanks Rapahel Lakafia and Antoine Bourban, before a freak late score from wing Julien Arias gave a flattering skew to the final score – as they reached their first Final since defeating Clermont 23-18 in 2007.
It was a sad end for a number of veteran stalwarts, whose club careers ended with this defeat – including South Africa's Bakkies Botha, along with Ali Williams and Carl Hayman of New Zealand.
Outgoing Toulon coach Bernard Laporte took aim at the players, for a lack of commitment, but the club President, Boudjellal, turned anger on the spectators.
He had his usual barrage of criticism aimed at the match officials – something that has often landed him in hot water in the past – and then too aim at spectators who hurled derisory and degrading whistling at the World Cup-winning Springbok, Botha, in his last game before walking of into retirement.
Boudjellal, known for his colourful and explosive language when he gets angry, called the spectators "bastards".
He described the match officials as "mere spectators".
But it was the behaviour of the spectators that most annoyed him.
"He had just finished his career," he said of the treatment meted out to the Bok veteran as he left the playing surface at the end of the match.
"I do not know who the bastards are who whistled, but like him or not, we should respect the last match of such a great player," he said of Botha.
"It is unacceptable to boo a boy like Bakkies Botha at the end of its career. For an athlete, the end of a career is a sporting 'death' and you should not whistle at someone like that."
@RCTofficiel @MBoudjelLoL je pense qu'un jubilé s'impose pour démontrer à bakkie toute notre reconnaissance! Ainsi qu'aux autres joueurs
— Emmanuel MARTIN (@manumartin83100) June 6, 2015
@RCTofficiel bien dit Mr le président, les siffleurs ne sont pas des amateurs de Rugby Botha est un grand merci à lui pour tout
— Manget Christine (@mangetc) June 6, 2015
