The meeting between Stade Rochelais and Stade Toulouse was, among other things, marked by the illicit clearing of Tolu Latu on the young Rouge et Noir scrum half Simon Daroque, who was then released with an injury. The La Rochelle hooker received a yellow card. A fair sanction?
The penalty for Antoine Hastoy's win, the heroic performance of the young Toulouse players, the return of Cyril Baille… There is no shortage of topics the day after La Rochelle's narrow victory against Stade Toulouse (22-19). However, there is one piece of news in particular that makes a lot of people react, including Antoine Dupont : the clearing of Tolu Latu on Simon Daroque. It was in the 51st minute that the Maritimes hooker arrived on the side of a group and charged the young scrum half from Stade Toulouse who left immediately, injured in the shoulder.
Also read:
Top 14 – Notes from La Rochelle – Toulouse: Antoine Hastoy as savior, Simon Daroque will learn…
For Mr. Ramos, referee of the match, it is “a charge to the shoulder, on a vulnerable player, at shoulder level” and not on the knee of Simon Daroque, he described when watching the action on the giant screens of Marcel Deflandre. It is based on this judgment that Tolu Latu will be sanctioned with a yellow card, and not a red one.
“On this action, Simon (Daroque) has no chance. It’s c***”
In the entourage of the Rouge et Noir club, the decision is difficult to pass: “The gesture is ugly. In these kinds of situations, the player can't protect himself, you can't see the opponent coming, you can't cover yourself, deflect the impact, put your arm in or anything.“This is not the first time that Stade Toulouse has railed against this type of behavior: in Exeter, already, Antoine Dupont had complained about the delayed tackles suffered over a good part of the match. Always in a context in which the player is released, when he is most vulnerable.“The principle of Rugby is that between the tackler and the tackled, each has a chance of winning the collision. Then, it is the best who takes the upper hand. There, Simon (Daroque) has no chance , it's completely delivered. It's c***.” we add.
Three Sides, again.
Hate to keep mentioning it but he is an actual danger. One of the worst card records of all time, seems to never learn.
This one is terrible. pic.twitter.com/K5ri2m4JHp
— Tight Five Rugby (@TightFive_Rugby) https://twitter.com/TightFive_Rugby/status/1875692639670170046?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
NRL decision expected
At the end of the meeting, President Didier Lacroix rushed to ask for justification from the arbitration body which, for now, confirms that it was the right decision. Contacted this Sunday, the day after the action, the high performance refereeing unit did not wish to respond to our requests. We will therefore have to wait for the report from the National Rugby League weekend to find out if it considers that a more severe sanction would have been fair and if, if so, Tolo Latu finds himself summoned to the disciplinary committees, his gesture being then de facto reclassified as a red card. As for the Stade Toulouse scrum half, the first examinations did not suggest a serious injury.
