'It's scandalous': Racing slam Beale ban

Racing owner Jacky Lorenzetti has branded the three-match ban given to new signing Kurtley Beale on Wednesday as "scandalous". French rugby officials punished the Australian following his red card in the Top 14 last weekend. 

That sanction has ruled Beale out of this Saturday's Champions Cup quarter-final at Clermont, and he will also miss the potential semi-final versus Leinster or Saracens should Racing pull off an away win in their last-eight match. 

Speaking to Midi Olympique ahead of his team's trip south from Paris, Lorenzetti claimed: "It's scandalous  I don't understand anything there. I have nothing against Toulouse and nothing against Joe Tekori (a week's suspension) but how a voluntary nudge in the face can be worth a match of suspension and how the gesture of Kurtley Beale, involuntary and questionable in terms of dangerousness, can it be worth three?

"The league, in its great leniency, still considered that given his clean record, Kurtley Beale deserved his sanction to be reduced from six games to three. This is madness!"

Capped on 92 occasions by Australia, the 31-year-old Beale recently joined Racing from the Waratahs and he made his debut in the round one Top 14 win away at Lyon. 

Racing then beat Montpellier 41-17 despite Beale’s red card, a match that also witnessed the serious injury of World Cup winner Handre Pollard. The South African could miss the entire league season in France due to the extent of the knee injury he suffered.

Despite his new player's suspension, Lorenzetti has been thrilled with the impact Beale has already had at the club. "Since joining, Kurtley Beale has never ceased to amaze us, whether by his intrinsic qualities or his faculties of integration. 

"Rugby-wise, he is beginning to find his mark and on the field seems very complicit with Finn Russell. Beale can play centre, full-back, winger or out-half. This is our Australian Swiss Army Knife."