Thousands of kilometers away, and not opponents this weekend, Ronan O’Gara and Antoine Dupont nevertheless answered the same question concerning the new rule for protecting number nines, which will take effect this weekend during the 3rd day of Champions Cup. With a smile, the Maritimes manager made a reference to the recent speech of the Frenchman, who regretted the lack of protection of the players during the last La Rochelle – Toulouse.
This is one of the questions of this Champions Cup weekend: how will the teams adapt to the new rules decided by the EPCR? Notably that which better protects the number 9s around the rucks and behind the scrum.
The main players in the world of rugby were therefore questioned before the 3rd day of the Champions Cup on the decision of the body to adjust the rules during the season. The captain of Stade Toulouse, Antoine Dupont, primarily concerned by this change, was delighted with this decision at a press conference: “It’s a good thing for the quality of the game. Lately, we regularly saw participants in mauls and rucks catching the hands of the number 9, so it was more than the limit with regard to the rule For me, these are good measures which will allow rugby in general to progress, to be more pleasant to watch.”
For his part, the manager of Stade Rochelais Ronan O’Gara, who welcomes Leinster on Sunday afternoon to Deflandre, was rather ironic, making an easily understandable allusion to Dupont. To the question: “Will the new rules and more particularly those which will better protect the scrum halves have an impact on the game?”, the former Munster fly-half answers: “Yes, exactly. They were still very well protected the last twelve months but, still, it’s going to be interesting. Who makes the rule for that? I don’t know (smile). Maybe I need an Instagram account to do that… Yes, they’re still protected, but now even more so, it’s going to be interesting. I think in six months, we’re going to have a different discussion. I hope the rule and the law are really well thought out. I think there are some flaws in this rule.”
Antoine Dupont had positioned himself on the protection of players
If he does not cite the captain of the XV of France, it is difficult not to make the connection between the projection of the Irishman and Antoine Dupont’s Instagram storywho was moved by the illicit clearing of Tolu Latu on the young scrum half Daroque during La Rochelle – Toulouse with this sentence: “On the other hand, the protection of the physical integrity of the players…”.
Asked about this on the eve of facing the South African Sharks, Dupont returned to his recent positions, first against Exeter where he regretted the late tackles by the English against himthen more recently, on the dangerous clearing of Rochelais, only sanctioned with a yellow card live but suspended for three weeks this week by a disciplinary committee convened urgently. “I didn’t necessarily find any logic between the speeches that were announced and the refereeing that we experienced on the groundexplains the scrum half. We are asked to put a lot of speed into the game and play the new numbers late, there is nothing worse for the continuity of the game… We also talk about the integrity of the players and when we see that the game is stopped , that one player does not see the other coming who hits him… In short, we all know the situation, and I think it has been rectified. I would just like the speeches to be aligned with the reality on the ground. Whether there is physical commitment, I have no problem with that. If I get involved and I have to tackle, I’ve never had any problem with that. But I’m just waiting for us to be aligned between the speeches and the refereeing decisions on the pitch.”
There is no doubt that everyone will be very attentive this weekend to the consequences of this new rule, which will make it possible to “streamline the game” according to Tony Spreadbury, the EPCR refereeing manager.
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