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Levani Botia turns down Leicester Tigers

Levani Botia /Getty

Blockbusting Fijian hybrid player Levani Botia has turned down advances from Leicester Tigers and will stay on at Ronan O’Gara’s La Rochelle – it was confirmed this week.

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The Fijian skipper had been heavily linked with a move to Steve Borthwick’s Premiership league leaders but has instead been convinced to stay put at Les Corsaires.

It was confirmed this week that Botia has signed on for another two seasons at the club which he joined in 2014.

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Champions Cup Chaos, Eben Etzebeth drama & we speak to Zach Mercer | Le French Rugby Podcast | EP 12

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      Champions Cup Chaos, Eben Etzebeth drama & we speak to Zach Mercer | Le French Rugby Podcast | EP 12

      We catch up with England international Zach Mercer to find out all about the Covid cases in the Montpellier camp, their European ambition, how he’s thriving on and off the field in France, being back on Eddie Jones’ radar after a chat at a recent Top 14 game and much more. Plus, we discuss the lay of the land in the Top 14 and how the regulations in France are affecting rugby and the Champions Cup. And, we pick our MEATER Moment of the Week…
      Use the code FRENCHPOD10 at checkout for 10% off any full price item at Meater.com

      Botia is a rare breed of player who can play both in the back row and in the centres, where his explosive ball carrying appears to be equally effective.

      The 32-year-old has more recently been deployed by O’Gara as a back row. O’Gara told Le Equipe this week: “It’s just added value for our back row which, since the start of the season, has taken a small hit in  with the career stoppage of Kévin Gourdon and the lack of availability of Wiaan Liebenberg and Victor Vito.”

      Botia (6ft, 103kg) is nicknamed ‘The Demolition’ man and has been a mainstay of the French side throughout their climb through the French ranks.  He has played 141 matches in Yellow and Black, becoming a cult hero at Marcel Deflandre. 

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      S
      SK 1 hour ago
      Lessons the Wallabies must heed to turn Lions heartbreak into future success

      Brett I love your fresh take on the picture that needed to be painted and ultimately wasnt. I agree there just wasnt enough in it for the ref to call it back and ultimately the ref was consistent the whole night at the breakdown. Australia are damned disheartened now but look how close it came to beating a team Campo said would thrash them by 30. This is the perfect prep for the Rugby Championship and the Boks and NZ. The Boks will be able to bring a scary pack to face the Aussies but it will be just as scary as facing these lads and so the Wallabies for me are making progress. They are not quite the finished article and the soft moments and tries and passive defence just proves it. Schmidt was brought in to make Australia better, he was brought in to make sure Australia improved in time for the Lions to avoid an embarrassment and look he has done that and taken them close so while the result is gutting its a job well done so far. lets see if they can take one step further and pilfer a test off these patchy Lions. Just a quick word on refs and the laws. Can we please tell World Rugby to simplify the game. At least 5 or 6 laws were examined in the wake of the last minute cleanout and several said Tizzano should have been pinged, others say Morgan should have been pinged. If former players and refs cant agree on what the right call was then it means the game is too complex. The refs have a clear mandate to let the game flow. I agree with that but the laws must support the refs. Right now they do not and leave too many holes for the refs to plug. The result is a furore after every major engagement between nations where the refs are abused.

      35 Go to comments
      I
      IkeaBoy 2 hours ago
      'The Wallabies only have themselves to blame': How the Lions sunk Australia in Melbourne

      I’m a proud Irishman with a weakness for the underdog. My only stake in the game was an Aussie win to take the series to a decider. Even overlooking the actual clear out - which was the only thing Piardi instructed the TMO to review - I think it’s very easy to be objective and say that Australia got done on the calls.


      It’s a phase of play that unfolds in less than 10 seconds but is fairly easy to breakdown.


      1 - Ryan (#19 Lions) is tackled legally, goes to ground in possession of the ball but makes no effort to release the ball. He has to immediately once he goes to ground. PENALTY.


      2 - Tizzano (#21 Australia) is first man to the ball (from either team) and forms the ruck with his own hindfoot. Side entry doesn’t apply to him as the ruck is not formed at this stage but rather it’s formed by him. NO PENALTY.


      3 - Even to completely ignore the actual clear out (penalty/no penalty), foul play can still have occurred without the need for a HIA. The fact that Tizzano is walking around and available for the next match doesn’t mean he didn’t get emptied. His mouthguard data does seem to have registered an almighty force though. 50/50.


      4 - Both Morgan (#20 Lions) and Genge (#17 Lions) go to clear out but both do so by driving through the ruck off their feet and falling over the ball. Sealing. PENALTY


      5 - I still don’t understand why none of the coverage picks up on this - Morgan holds Tizzano’s feet in a wrap on the pitch after the clear out. On the match clock it’s 79.03 to 79.07 before he releases. Playing the player off the ball. PENALTY


      Piardi controls the narrative when reviewing with the TMO and starts on the wrong foot. The discussion is all on the basis that both sets of players arrive at the same time (which changes mitigation around foul play) which they don’t. They clearly don’t as Tizzano is first to the ball.


      For 79 mins that match was brilliant. The crowd was brilliant. The atmosphere seemed brilliant. It’s a loss on the sport that a gang of mic’d up officials can not get it right.

      179 Go to comments
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