Before challenging Bayonne, Paul Gustard notably returned to the refereeing during the derby between Stade Français and Racing 92 because he did not understand the penalties whistled against his team in the scrum.
Last Saturday, at the Jean-Bouin stadium, we had to wait many minutes after the siren to see Giorgi Melikidze score a final try (converted by Louis Carbonel) and thus allow Stade Français to snatch a draw against Racing 92 (20-20), during the 12th day of the Top 14. A few days later, Paul Gustard still does not understand why his team was punished so much in the scrum during this Ile-de-France derby.
Before going to Bayonne on December 27, the SFP manager mentioned this in particular at a press conference.
“We didn’t understand the decisions made in the scrum. I spoke after the match with a lot of top scrum coaches as well as referees to get other opinions and a better understanding: they see the same things about this match as we do.the Englishman first explained.
Gustard wants “clarity” to “be able to progress”
“We will of course discuss with Mathieu Raynal (the boss of the referees) and Mr. Brousset (the referee of the Ile-de-France derby) to obtain clarity and better understanding, in order to be able to progress. (…) Except for this match, we had a very dominant scrum in the championship this season. The opposing right pillar (Gia Kharaishvili) was on the ground more often than standing, and yet it was us who were penalized”subsequently railed the former 3rd wing line, in comments taken up by Rugbyrama.
“And when we were awarded something, it was just a free kick. We respect the decisions made during the match, but we need to understand why we were punished so much against a scrum ranked around 10th or 11th in the championship. Normally, we would have obtained penalties allowing us to maintain the pressure and gain territory or points”Gustard also said. Suffice to say that the scrums will be closely scrutinized in a few days at Jean-Dauger.
