France scrum-half apologises for ‘absolutely ridiculous’ dive that Nigel Owens would’ve red carded
France and Racing 92 scrum-half Nolann Le Garrec and an inset of former referee Nigel Owens.
France and Racing 92 scrum-half Nolann Le Garrec has issued an apology following his simulation attempt against Perpignan.
The 22-year-old has come under fire for his actions in the Top 14 match after he attempted to milk an incident with Perpignan prop Bruce Devaux.
Le Garrec ran into the front-row before flinging himself to the floor and dramatically holding his face in an attempt to earn a penalty and a potential sanction for Devaux.
Nolann Le Garrec dive
Ultimately, the match officials did not bite despite the scrum-half’s pleas and continued with the scrum for Perpignan after Racing 92 lost the ball forward after attacking into the 22.
His actions sparked outrage on social media with popular rugby columnist Paul Williams stating: “Genuinely think that deserves a ban. Absolutely ridiculous.”
At the time, Racing 92 were trailing 28-17 and had lost the services of winger Vinaya Habosi to a red card and while they would eventually score a try to reduce the lead, Perpignan held out for a 28-24 victory.
After severe backlash, including a remark from former referee Nigel Owens who stated, “He is lucky I wasn’t refin (sic) or he would have had a straight red no hesitation”, Le Garrec has now issued an apology.
France star’s ‘proper theatre’ leads to ban calls for ‘absolutely ridiculous’ dive
France star apologises
“I wanted to come back to the situation of the contact to my head and my inadequate reaction,” the scrum-half said on Tuesday.
“At the time, I received a shoulder blow to the face from the USAP prop, and I did not perceive at all if it was intentional or not.
“At the time, I do not know if it was nervousness on his part. At that moment of the match, the tensions were high and we had just received a yellow card ourselves for contact to the head.
“In any case, I did not know how to react to this shoulder blow. After reviewing the images, I see that this gesture was completely involuntary on the part of the prop. I apologise to the match referees! I did not want to disrespect anyone. It is not in my habits.”
The defeat keeps Racing 92 in danger of relegation as they sit in 11th position and hold a four-point buffer over 13th-place Perpignan with five league games remaining.
They next face Parisian rivals Stade Français before an away trip to Lyon in the Challenge Cup. Their final four games include matches against Bayonne, Toulouse, Montpellier and another clash with Lyon.
READ MORE: Loose Pass: Time for World Rugby to punish simulation and the Premiership’s marmite fan experiment
