Retired Wallabies back Drew Mitchell has slammed his former French club’s president for his public rebuke of Julian Savea, fearing the spray will do long-term damage to Toulon’s pulling power.
Savea was singled out by Mourad Boudjellal on French radio after his Top 14 side’s loss to Agen.
The president sensationally demanded the former New Zealand winger apologise for his performance and “go back to his home country”.
“I’m going to ask for a DNA test. They must have swapped him on the plane (when he joined from Super Rugby’s Hurricanes),” he told French radio RMC on Sunday.
“When we reach this level of play, we must apologise and leave.
“I told him he was released and he was no longer welcome at Toulon.
“He has got a year left on his contract. He can do what he wants.”
Toulon are languishing in 11th place and Savea, a 2015 World Cup winner and 54-Test All Blacks veteran, has come under heavy criticism from fans for his lacklustre form since arriving at the club.
Savea responded on Monday, tweeting he intended to see out his contract and would turn up to training with a “positive attitude … whether I am welcomed or not”.
Australian winger Mitchell was part of Toulon’s Champions Cup wins in 2014 and 2015, before he forced his way into the Wallabies’ World Cup team.
He said Boudjellal, a comic book magnate with a reputation for lashing out at players in the press, needed to realise there were other ways to make headlines.
“They’re very passionate, especially in the south of France,” Mitchell told AAP.
“I get where they (the fans) are coming from and I’ve experienced that side of Mourad.
“But his (Savea’s) form is a separate issue; that stuff should be kept in the locker room.
“He doesn’t deserve that and the flow on means other players and especially former All Blacks won’t be encouraged to go there.”
Mitchell’s tweet which condemned Boudjellali’s comments was endorsed by Savea’s brother and fellow All Black Ardie, while Savea’s wife Fatima defended the 28-year-old on social media after she revealed the abuse he had copped from fans.
“Take a minute to think about how your words can affect someone’s life and their mental health,” she tweeted.
“And people wonder why mental health in rugby had become a big problem.”
piru
Roar Rookie
He didn't get a spray from his boss, he got castigated in the media and attacked personally by petty 'fans'. Maybe Toulon could develop their own players instead of trying to buy championships?
Adsa
Roar Rookie
A lazy worker gets a spray from his boss and everyone get's precious, not the first time it has happened and won't be the last. Maybe Savea could try harder?
In Brief
Guest
Exactly- poor scouting. Physically he's almost the opposite of his brother who has such incredible fast twitch, explosive power. Julian just seemed to lose that explosive speed and acceleration.
Sylvester
Guest
He's going to be stoked when an injury-ravaged Milner-Skudder turns up later in the year.
piru
Roar Rookie
Dead right TM - how can they possibly believe a transplanted player is going to have the same passion for what is essentially a paycheque over their home province and nation? Some players can calmly go about their business at the top level, regardless - ie Dan Carter, others can't.
Train Without A Station
Roar Guru
Well if there’s that narrative isn’t it even dumber for NH clubs to offer them stupid money?
Train Without A Station
Roar Guru
Expectation should be paid on what the player was doing at the time. I could be paid All Black money. Be dumb to expect All Black performances from me.
Shane D
Roar Rookie
Perhaps he should have looked at Saveas last season in NZ & seen what he was buying?
taylorman
Roar Guru
Id expect All Black quality when playing for the All Blacks. That will usually be the only time youll get it. When he contracted Savea he was far from AB quality and made the decision to go fully knowing he wasnt going to be in the squad. So no, theres no grounds where he shoukd expect AB quality for Toulon, if he cant even produce it in the perfect environment. Unless you think Savea should somehow automatically play how he did 3-4 years ago, in which case the french coach should fork out for a time machine, cos thats the only way hes gonna get an All Black out of Savea.
Kaks
Roar Guru
So he shouldn't expect 'All Black Quality' even though he is paying a lot of money for that quality? If I were paid top dollar to perform in a certain role at any company and wasnt performing as expected, I'd be shown the door. Same happening here.
taylorman
Roar Guru
How bout you try sending your players this way. theyd be back on the plane before the season started. Saveas form dropped badly when he was here so its frenchys fault for expecting something else.
taylorman
Roar Guru
Ha ha good job. Some northerners think they can pay a load of money and get access to All Black quality with a wallet. Nobody wants to actually play for these losers. They go for the money. Thats it. Some succeed, some dont but an appalling way to publicly humiliate an All Black great. No class. Deserves the losses his team are having. Stay strong Savea. No point worrying about those who have no idea.
piru
Roar Rookie
That's as may be, but there's no excuse for the stuff being posted to Julian.
FunBus
Roar Rookie
I can see both sides. It sounds disrespectful, but there's a bit of a narrative, particularly in NZ, that you go North and just pick up the large cheque by some sort of divine right deriving from the fact that you've played for the ABs. A number of Kiwis (in particular, for some reason) are getting a bit of a shock at the moment. They seem to assume they're going to stroll in and dominate and are ending up, metaphorically, on their backsides.
piru
Roar Rookie
Well, this should be good for the player drain problem, who'd go to the NH to put up with this kind of nonsense?