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France's Monday morning meeting: 'I was frankly shocked'

France's rugby team head coach Fabien Galthie gestures during a press conference in Montevideo on July 9, 2024, on the eve of the rugby test match between Uruguay and France. (Photo by Eitan ABRAMOVICH / AFP) (Photo by EITAN ABRAMOVICH/AFP via Getty Images)

France’s tour of Argentina and Uruguay was overshadowed by the off-field behaviour of three squad members and was described as a “collective trauma” by centre Antoine Frisch.

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The problems began after France beat Argentina 28-13 in the opening Test in Mendoza. The next day fullback Melvyn Jaminet was removed from the squad after posting an Instagram story expressing violent intentions.

Two days later Argentine authorities began investigating forwards Oscar Jegou and Hugo Auradou over an alleged sexual assault in Mendoza. They were formally charged with aggravated rape.

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Lawyers for the victim have said that she suffered wounds to her face, back, breasts, legs and ribs, as well as bite and scratch marks following the ordeal and she was raped at least six times.

Coach Fabien Galthie had given both forwards their debuts as starters in the first Test.

“We had a meeting on Monday evening and Fabien Galthie and the staff explained the situation to us, all together, at the hotel,” former Munster centre Frisch told AFP.

“I was frankly shocked. There are so many emotions: you’re worried, you’re stressed,” said the Test debutant. “It’s hard to find the words. It’s a collective trauma.

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“I’ve never experienced anything like it… It was very difficult emotionally, psychologically and mentally. Preparing for a match like that was definitely complicated.”

Frisch said France had mental health professionals ready to talk to the players.

“Yes, we had our mental trainers who were available if we needed to talk. After that, everyone experiences it differently. There are some who prefer not to talk about it. There are some who need to express themselves.”

France had beaten Uruguay 43-28 midweek but went on to lose the second Test to Argentina 25-33 in Buenos Aires on Saturday.

“It certainly had a real impact on our preparation, that’s for sure.”

“It wasn’t easy,” he said. “We talked to each other, kept to ourselves and stuck together. There was the French football team match and we watched it together.”

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“As the week progressed, there was an international match to play. We were forced to switch to that.”

Captain Baptiste Serin echoed the words of Frisch: “It’s been a very complicated week,” said Serin after the 33-25 defeat which left the series tied at 1-1.

“But it was an international match and there was only one thing that motivated us, only one thing we could control, and that was what we could give on the pitch.

“And we gave it everything we had.”

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Comments

2 Comments
J
JK 330 days ago

What happens on tour never stays on tour….

c
carlos 330 days ago

I am not going to judge whether the attack occurred as stated or whether there are other issues at play, there’s not enough information to say one way or another.


However, I blame the French team staff for not having a “watcher” or security staff at the hotel lobby at all times. When you see two players of 20 and 21 years of age walking in with a woman almost twice their age, what is the “reasonable expectation”? No one to prevent a potential disaster? No one asking questions?

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T
TokoRFC 1 hour ago
Super Rugby Pacific's greatest season stained by one playoff game

Mate, what TK and Ben Smith are forgetting is that a comp needs more games that matter, and its a balancing act getting that right.

They haven’t understood that having so many teams fighting over the 6th spot is what fueled the back end of the regular season. Not to mention the games to decide the top end of the finals seeding. It would have been a bit flat if the 4 bottom teams were out of the running with a few rounds still to go.


The current finals format is a bit funny to get used to, I agree. But if they sort out the scheduling guff where the BRU vs HUR match could have been a non knockout game, as well as giving more punishment for the lucky looser (dropping them to 4th seed in the semis). The current format creates more meaningful matches than the alternatives.


Some examples of finals formats:


Top 6 14 matches that matter

With the improvements above, the current system creates 6 competitive finals, plus say 8 matches in the regular season that are effectively knockout games. 14 games that definitely matter. Plus some games to decide the finals seeding in there too.


Top 4 10 matches that matter

3 finals matches and say 6 games to fight over the top 4. At a best case you may get 12 crucial games


If offered the choice, the sponsors, the broadcasters, the fans, the players and the all blacks selectors would all take more meaningful games over any alternative format.

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