A disturbing all-in-brawl has been captured on a camera phone at a French club rugby match between Biarritz and Beziers in the French Pro D2
It’s not the first time we’ve seen a fight of this magnitude coming out of France with The Roar seeing its fair share of club rugby brawls, but this one takes the cake for the most violent.
The fracas was between Biarritz’ junior team known as ‘Espoirs’ and rivals Béziers at the Parc des Sports Aguiléra.
The footage shot from two different angles shows the chaotic scenes as the players threw haymakers at each other, the fight making its way off the field and in front of the stunned grandstand full of supporters.
Some spectators who looked to be attempting to break up the fight ended up joining in, although it is not known if they were players not currently involved in the match.
What are your thoughts on this violent trend in French club rugby?
Mick Gold Coast QLD
Roar Guru
Bakkies
Guest
The scary thing that this is common in underage matches around the country not just rookies with a lot at stake (ie a pro career). Beziers are a big producer of players
Marty
Guest
Pretty sure on Ebay you can still find a genuine WW2 French service rifle, good condition, never fired, only dropped once. :)
Jake
Guest
Well, they're no good at fighting anyone else.
kingplaymaker
Roar Guru
French rugby players are kind of mountain men from the wilds of south-western France, a little like rugby teams made up of the hillbillies in the Deliverance, so it's not suprising they degrade rugby in this way and that the crowd gleefully joins in.
felix
Guest
Loving this,Stefan just for the record I do not take punches as a friendly gesture,yeah I used to in Varsity with mates my age at the time. My moto is you shouldn't throw stones if you live in a glass house and if you have a glass jaw I'll break your face ;-)
Utah
Guest
Yeah right Stefan, those people in civvies really looked like they were trying to break it up. Particularly the bloke who was hitting players with his umbrella. I think you've taken a few too many hits.
Stefan
Guest
The players have their own code and, as in the past, should be able to sort on pitch problems themselves. An irish forward once commented to me over a pint, after we'd stamped & knocked lumps off each other in the game, "Sure, but what's a punch between friends". We're still firm friends to this day. Rows such as this are caused and often inflamed by lack of clarity, consistency and certainty in refereeing decisions. As for the crowd joining in, the area next to the pitch is usually ONLY players and ex-players who, from the look of it, were trying to break it up to save both clubs the fines and embarassment. When this sort of fracas kicks off between players, look back through the video to see what has been missed earlier in the match !
felix
Guest
Damn the French!! Hehe :-D