Following Stade Toulouse's defeat against La Rochelle on Saturday (22-19), Antoine Dupont criticized the refereeing, worrying about “the protection of the physical integrity of the players” after a very tense meeting.
If Antoine Dupont was not on the pitch at Marcel-Deflandre with his teammates on Saturday, he followed their meeting closely, even to the point of criticizing the refereeing. In a message posted on Instagram just after Stade Toulouse's defeat against La Rochelle (22-19), the Olympic champion expressed concern about “the protection of the physical integrity of the players”.
“Proud of the talent and courage of young people,” he salutes before also slipping in a rant about refereeing. “On the other hand, the protection of the physical integrity of the players…” No particular action is singled out by the scrum half, but two contentious actions marked the meeting: a tackle deemed lawful by Reda Wardi on Valentin Delpy at the start of the match then a dangerous clearance from Latu on Daroque, who finally came off due to a shoulder injury.
A junior team fielded by Toulouse
La Rochelle snatched a difficult victory on Saturday evening against the second team from Toulouse thanks to a penalty from Antoine Hastoy after the siren (22-19). Facing the Rochelais, a very young, eye-catching Toulouse guard, who took over from his managers who had been left to rest. The defending champion had warned for weeks that he was prioritizing his trip to challenge the South African Sharks next week in the Champions Cup and therefore presented himself at Marcel-Deflandre with a team with an average age of 24.
The short setback conceded by the Haut-Garonnais made them lose the head of the ranking, to the benefit of Bordeaux-Bègles, ruthless at the Stade Français (46-19), but satisfaction will prevail for the red and black hopes.
