Having just returned from suspension for being guilty of a dangerous tackle during the Fiji-Tonga match counting for the Pacific Nations Cup last September, Adrea Cocagi received a red card in the 20th minute of game during the reception at Stade Français, forcing his teammates to step up their efforts to achieve a precious success.
For his team, his action will ultimately be of no consequence; Stade Français is currently too far from its standards to win an away match, even with numerical superiority. The fact remains that Adrea Cocagi “forced” her CO partners to play around sixty minutes with fourteen players, following a dangerous gesture (elbow forward in the face of Samuel Ezeala) which seemed easily avoidable. If it did not prevent the success of the Tarnais, the excess of energy induced by this bad gesture perhaps deprived Jeremy Davidson’s men of greater success or at least more comfortable on a physical level for the twenty-two other Tarn players who had to compensate for the absence of their massive three-quarter center.
We don’t forget what a formidable rugby player Adrea Cocagi is, capable of mobilizing three defenders and always moving forward; to free up space for his teammates; to score tries in all positions, to defend 80 minutes with the desire of a cadet and the power of a war tank. But it is imperative that he reason out his excesses of commitment and better control his gestures. Saturday, on the pitch at Pierre-Fabre, the stormy islander played his first match of the season in the colors of the CO. The fault, already, was a red card received during an international Pacific Nations Cup match played with his Fijian selection against Tonga and which earned him a four-week suspension for a dangerous tackle. It remains to be seen how the disciplinary committee will receive this new slip-up by the Fijian, whose last suspension for a red card received with the CO dates back to last December.
