Top 14 – No red card for Romain Taofifenua (Racing 92) against Lyon? A decision that does not cause

After yet another whistle conceded by Racing (17 in all!), Davit Niniashvili decided to play this penalty by hand to try to finally win this meeting played at a false rhythm (25-25 final score). But the Georgian Lou's back was stopped in his tracks by the referee of the match Vivien Praderie. The referee then indicated to Racing 92 captain Ibrahim Diallo that he then wanted to make a new call on the video: “We will review the tackle of blue number 5 for suspicion of foul play.”

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At that moment of the meetingthe player targeted by the man with the whistle, Romain Taofifenua, has already been warned. As the players returned to the locker room, the referee was warned in his headset by Laurent Sclafer, his video assistant, of a foul by the French international second row (53 caps). After, already, a video refereeing, he received a yellow card for a shoulder charge on the head of Théo William. He had avoided permanent exclusion thanks to a mitigating circumstance: the second row of Lyon had his head down, after a tackle from Racingman Hassane Kolingar.

Head contact, yes. Foul play, yes. But, for me, there is a low degree of danger and a tackle already in progress

Let's go back to this 61st minute. The giant screen at the Paris-La Défense Arena then showed Lyon third row Arno Botha carrying the ball and being tackled on the legs by Lee-Marvin Mazibuko. The replacement right pillar of Racing 92 was assisted at the top by Romain Taofifenua, therefore. The former… Lyonnais (2021-2024) then seemed to impact his opponent directly in the head. “It seems legal to me”said Vivien Praderie after this first slow motion. The audience at the Ile-de-France venue held their breath.

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If the tackle of the South African pillar seemed a mitigating circumstance because the Lyonnais was falling, the player trained in Perpignan could nevertheless receive a yellow card. “Contact to the head, yes. Foul play, yes. But, for me, there is a low degree of danger and a tackle already in progress. So, for me, it comes down to a simple penalty”judged the referee of the match, a verdict not contradicted by his assistant Adrien Marbot, at his side. He then clarified that the second row (2.03 m, 135 kg) made the effort to work with his arms, therefore ruling out the hypothesis of a shoulder load. This surprised Baptiste Couilloud who asked the referee to repeat his sanction: a simple penalty. The scrum half did not feign his surprise at not seeing his former partner in Lyon receive, at a minimum, a second yellow card, given that the contact was at head level.

Lyonnais who are not controversial…

This interpretation of the referee, when others could have excluded Romain Taofifenua, will undoubtedly be talked about beyond the margins of the meeting. But, at the press conference, no one wanted to add another layer.

Starting with Baptiste Couilloud: “It's always easier to talk about it after the match. Obviously, I think a different decision could have been made at that point in the meeting. Now, Mr. Praderie has made his choice. It's complicated and delicate to be in this position of referee. There will always be topics of controversy after the meetings. We could have won, even with Romain Tao on the pitch. We're not going to hide behind that today.”

Following in front of the media after the meeting, Lou's manager Fabien Gengenbacher also did not want to take charge of the arbitration: “If Racing had been reduced to fourteen at that point in such a close match, it would have had an impact. But we must not stay there. It is a situation which, today, is difficult to referee. A protocol has been put in place. I believe there is foul play with this head contact, but there are extenuating circumstances that apply. Now we must focus on our performance. It will be necessary to analyze it quickly to quickly look forward to the reception in Perpignan (January 4, 4:30 p.m.).”

… neither do the Racingmen

Just after coming close to the red card, Romain Taofifenua was replaced by Boris Palu. A coincidence of timing according to Racing 92 manager, Stuart Lancaster. “I replaced him because he had a good first half, where he showed his physique, he was hard on impact when he carried the ball. He produced a lot of effort! Romain didn't haven't played 80 minutes in a very long time (in Perpignan, April 20, Editor’s note). This change was to bring energy, like, just before, the replacement of Will Rowlands by Fabien Sanconnie. Besides, if you look closely, Boris Palu was ready to come on when the referee called for the video.” As for this decision by Vivien Praderie, how did the Englishman judge it? “There are a lot of things to think about in the game that could have been different. Unfortunately for us, that wasn’t the case.” Cameron Woki, last to present himself to journalists, said no more. Move along, there's nothing to see!