Berbizier cited
Pierre Berbizier, once France’s captain, is no longer playing but he has nonetheless been cited for a rude outburst against an assistant referee after his side, Racing-Mètro, lost to Clermont Auvergne.
It was a close match which the Auvergnats, playing at home, won 21-17 without scoring a try. But it was not the penalty count which annoyed Berbizier but the sin-binning of Santiago Dellapè, the Argentinian lock who plays for Italy.
The referee for the match was Pascal Gauzere. His assistants were Christophe Berdos and Jean-Luc Rebollal. All three officials have international experience but by far the most experienced is Berdos. But Berdos was the object of Berbizier’s ire.
Frans Steyn had just dropped a goal to put Racing into a 17-12 lead when Berdos reported Dellapè for charging into Morgan Parra, the Clermont scrumhalf, with his knee. His advice to the referee was that Dellapè be sent to the sin bin, which is what happened.
Berbizier said that that decision was the turning point in the match, a decision which he labelled very hard.
Then Berbizier had his say about the referee, claiming that Berdos had it in for Racing. He said: “We are asked to respect referees. This is really difficult. I shall never again respect Mr Berdos.”
In fact he said that all season Berdos had had it in for Racing. And that was not all. He also had a go at Pierre-Yves Revol, the president of the Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR), the body regulating professional rugby in France, calling him a hypocrite, saying: “Often we realise that those who pretend to defend certain values, don’t always respect them.”
Berdos reacted in Midi Olympique on Monday, saying: “I wish to state that have nothing against Mr Berbizier or against Racing.
“In the matter of the yellow card for Dellapè it is important that Mr Berbizier knows that I would have made exactly the same decision if the Clermont side had been in the wrong.
“I did not bow to spectator pressure or any other form of pressure.”
There were also queries about a penalty kicked by Parra. In this regard Berdos said: “I was not the one who made the decision. I looked to my colleague and he had no doubt that the ball had gone between the uprights.”
Berbizier will have to answer to the LNR.
