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Bayonne statement: Police arrest of the club's assistant coach
By Liam Heagney
Top 14 newcomers Bayonne have issued a statement following the arrest of assistant coach Antoine Battut and their former physical trainer Cyril Gomes after an incident at a medical clinic emergency room. Promoted as Pro D2 champions, the club is due to launch its top-flight campaign with a September 3 trip to Toulon.
However, preparations have now been complicated following a late-night incident this week in which a nurse was allegedly attacked. The Bayonne statement read: “Aviron Bayonnais Rugby Pro has learned that a member of the sports staff is involved in an incident that occurred overnight from Monday to Tuesday.
“The club would like to point out that this event took place during a period of leave. The management of the club, which will meet the employee concerned as soon as possible, strongly condemns these facts which took place in a private context.
“Anxious to let justice do its job, the club will not make any additional comments and will take all necessary measures.”
Bayonne didn’t name the people caught up in the incident but local newspaper Sud-Ouest named the duo involved as current assistant coach Battut and former employee Gomes. Their story explained that the pair allegedly hit a nurse at the Aguilera clinic in Biarritz and a complaint was lodged at the local police station for aggravated violence.
The media reported that the two men - who were intoxicated - had accompanied the Bayonne club's video analyst to the emergency room after he was the victim of a scooter accident but a clash took place at the clinic that allegedly left a nurse bloodied on the ground. This led to Gomes being arrested at the scene and Battut, who was suspected of having thrown a punch, was taken into custody later on. He was reportedly released on Wednesday afternoon.
The 38-year-old enjoyed a 16-year professional career as a player, starting out with two years at Toulouse before switching to Auch and Montauban and then arriving at Racing in 2010. Battut spent four seasons in Paris before three seasons followed at Montpellier and he then ended his career with a three-season stint at Bayonne before moving into coaching with them.
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I guess the other option would be to start ALB, he's looked good in the 12 so far when he starts and sets up those outside him. But that would mean putting the vice captain on the bench, which is unlikely. Another option would be to drop Reiko to the bench and play Proctor, though he's gone home so that's not going to happen either.
Both of those players just offer more of the soft distribution skills good centres learn from playing their careers there. Unfortunately that's what's lacking with the current combo.
Go to commentsWhatever let's see if this load of waffle is still valid in 2 years time. ABs will rise we have a lot of new talent coming through. The NPC was the highest standard for years. The game is changing to suit the fast pace we like to play. We get to play the Springboks more, including the franchises, which will make us better! Overall I am optimistic. I will add having watched the England game multiple times we made most of the play. England are an awesome physical team, but you can expect the All Blacks to get better and better at executing the chances. It could easily have been 5 tries to one instead of 3 to 1.
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