Antoine Dupont: “No logic between the speeches and the refereeing on the pitch”… The player justifies his criticism after the match in La Rochelle

His criticisms are rare. But after the match between La Rochelle and Toulouse (22-19), Antoine Dupont felt the need to reaffirm the importance of protecting the players, even if it meant criticizing the decision of Luc Ramos, who had “only” sent a yellow card to Tolu Latu after his dangerous clearance on young Simon Daroque.

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This Friday, January 10, the “red and black” captain returned to his speech. “I didn’t necessarily find any logic between the speeches announced and the refereeing on the field, he complains. We are asked for a lot of speed in the game but tackling the number 9s late there is nothing worse for the continuity of the game. Then, we are told about the integrity of the players but when the game is stopped and one player does not see the other arriving, well we all know the situation. I just wanted the speech to be aligned. with the facts on the ground.”

“Giving common sense to arbitration”

Asked in turn about the recent controversy, Ugo Mola agreed with the opinion of his scrum half: “The protection of players is crucial in the image we have of the rugby of tomorrow. Obviously the physical relationship is essential but in the fundamental regulations of rugby, you have to take care of the safety of your opponent. We want to give a form of common sense to the refereeing beyond the decision-making tree. , he must be punished.”

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The Toulouse manager then spoke about the scope of his star player’s outings. “Antoine is in his role when he speaks, he certifies. He is a more relevant and rapid dissemination channel than what I or others could be because he is a major player in world rugby. Him speaking out could speed things up.”

As a reminder, a few days after the controversy of the match in La Rochelle, Tolu Latu received a three-week suspension from the disciplinary committee.