Cockerill disgusted at Castro rant
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Leicester coach Richard Cockerill has spoken out against Toulon prop Martin Castrogiovanni's rant aimed at him, labelling it as 'disgusting' and 'disappointing.
Italian Castrogiovanni spent a large part of his career between 2006-2013 at Leicester and became a cult figure at the English club.
However in 2011 there was rumblings that the Italian tighthead was unhappy in England and wanted to move to the French giants Toulon.
Many stated that Castrogiovanni was simply chasing money but the prop denied it and said he was looking for more game time having fallen down in the pecking order behind England's Dan Cole.
Finally, Castrogiovanni paid his way out of his contract and joined Toulon last year after seven years at Welford road.
Toulon faced off against Leicester in the European Cup last Sunday with the English club taking the honours at home 25-21, however it was what followed the match that was most intriguing.
Castrogiovanni called a personal press conference with English journalist and started a stinging rant towards his former coach and the Tigers for the manner in which he departed the club, saying he never wanted to speak to the Leicester director of rugby again.
The Toulon prop said he paid £100,000 of his own money to be released a year early from his contract. He reserved particular scorn for Cockerill and his part in the deal, and called Leicester 'amateur'.
But Cockerill said he allowed Castrogiovanni to leave purely because Dan Cole was his first choice tighthead, and admits he was 'amazed' by the 33-year-old's outburst in front of the assembled press.
"I’m disappointed really,” Cockerill told Sky Sports.
“In professional sport people move on for all sorts of reasons.
"He left a year early from his contract. He wasn’t getting picked. He wanted to move on because he was of an age where he wanted to play.
"I put a price on him, he agreed a deal and he moved on. We did it in a very professional manner, as you would expect from Leicester. I was amazed when he called his own press conference… and off he went.
"I’m sure he’ll have his explanation for it. I’m sorry that he has sullied what was a fantastic playing career here. He was an icon of the club and a fans’ favourite.
"There’s lots of things about this place. One thing it isn’t is an amateur club. For him to say that, for me, it’s disgusting.
"He needs to make sure he apologises publicly for that. I’m sure he’ll get disciplined in the right manner.”
Castrogiovanni will have another chance to come up against Cockerill when Toulon welcome the Tigers on Saturday in a return fixture of the European Cup match.
Sky Sports
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