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Connacht's Bundee Aki sees red and confronts referee

By PA
Bundee Aki was not happy with the referee.

Bundee Aki was sent off as Connacht suffered a 38-15 defeat to defending United Rugby Championship winners the Stormers in Stellenbosch.

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Ireland international Aki was penalised for a dangerous clearout midway through the second half, extinguishing any hope of a fightback from the Irish province.

Evan Roos touched down early for the hosts and, though they could not add another try before the break, they took a 13-8 lead into half-time thanks to the kicking of Manie Libbok, with Dylan Tierney-Martin going over for the visitors.

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The Westerners were 19-8 down when Aki was given his marching orders and quickfire tries from Andre-Hugo Venter and Hacjivah Dayimani put the result beyond doubt, with Jack Aungier crossing for a late consolation.

Marcel Theunissen wrapped up the bonus point after the hooter.

Roos dominated the end-of-season awards last term and took only three minutes to make an impact this time around.

The number eight exploited a gap in the Connacht defence and made light work of Mack Hansen’s attempted tackle as his rampaging run sent him over in the corner.

Libbok slotted the conversion and added a penalty after Conor Fitzgerald had got Connacht off the mark from the tee.

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The Stormers number 10 was off-target with a relatively straightforward penalty after 22 minutes but normal service was resumed when he made it 13-3 five minutes later.

Marvin Orie was then sin-binned for an accumulation of Stormers offences and Connacht quickly made their hosts pay.

Following a period of sustained pressure on the Stormers five-metre line, Connacht eventually drove Tierney-Martin over, although Fitzgerald was wayward with the conversion.

Libbok scored two more penalties either side of Connacht losing Caolin Blade to a serious-looking lower-leg injury early in the second half.

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The visitors thought they had closed the gap when Tom Farrell went over after collecting a David Hawkshaw cross-kick but the try was chalked off for Aki’s dangerous clearout on Seabelo Senatla in the build-up – an offence that earned Aki the red card.

An angry Aki then followed referee Gianluca Gnecchi up the pitch after the red card had been brandished. The Ireland centre could be heard asking the referee ‘Where do you want me? Where do you want me to clear?’ before being ushered away by Connacht captain Jarrad Butler.

That dismissal swung momentum decisively in the Stormers’ favour and Venter touched down at the end of a mesmerising passage of play to make it 26-8 with the help of Libbok’s conversion.

Dayimani quickly added another and although Aungier’s try – converted by Hawkshaw – gave Connacht fans something to smile about, it was Theunissen who had the final say at the death, with Libbok adding the extras.

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Tom 42 minutes ago
How group of spoiled Racing 92 players drove Stuart Lancaster 'insane'

It's a culture clash, for some it works for others it doesn't. Lancaster says it himself why he didn't like it there, he says there was a big group of lazy players just content to pick up a fat paycheck. This is pretty evident from the lack of success Racing have had for years in spite of the money they've thrown around. Two hard working, tough nosed lads from the industrial heartland of England were never going to thrive in leadership roles at Racing. Two very different ideologies, all the jouez jouez, joie de vivre, laissez faire wasn't going to work for them. It sounds like the French didn't think much of them either which doesn't surprise me.


A player coming in from Fiji has a huge culture shock too but in rugby terms the French attitude probably suits them quite well and they're earning more money than they've ever dreamed of. It's very different from a couple of hard nosed Englishmen stepping in to leadership roles trying to force a load of Frenchmen at a very challenging Parisian club to adopt an entirely different attitude, they were always going to rub each other up the wrong way. Lancaster obviously signed Farrell because he wanted a lieutenant to enforce discipline, the writing was on the wall at this point. At a club like Toulouse or La Rochelle it might have worked better but at Racing no chance.


.. and don't get me wrong this isn't a criticism of the French, I absolutely love France. They're certainly better at rugby than we are right now. It's just two very disparate styles which don't play nicely together and perhaps a bit of a criticism of Racing, there are some deep seeded issues at the club.

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S
Soliloquin 59 minutes ago
How group of spoiled Racing 92 players drove Stuart Lancaster 'insane'

Indeed, there’s probably many elements lost in translation (or when there’s no translation) when a coach whose language proficiency is not optimal.

But again, there are French assisting coaches who are around to give all the details, while the global idea is delivered by the coach.

And the psychological impact of someone trying to fit in this very local rugby culture cannot be neglected.


In rugby, France is really something else, with Argentina and Italy

But objectively, although not having won the RWC, France had more success than these 2 latin nations and I think French rugby players, coaches and club owners probably feel entitled to be respected. And respect comes by integrating with language.

I don’t have any stats, but I can imagine all foreign players who became legends all learned French to some extent.

And this is what could make the difference between a player that contributed to great successes (Bakkies) and the one who also tried to get closer to the club and country culture (Wilkinson) at RCT.


I do not know how it was going for international coaches in Italy or in Argentina for instance, but there’s probably an element of showing that you take into consideration the expertise and history of a club/country. And if you’re just a guy who feels entitled while simply coming with his own ideas without adapting to the context, French rugby level and Top14’s aura (and chauvinism I guess?) will not help you get adhesion from players and achieve success.


I do not really think it’s an issue of understanding each other with all possible nuances, because if we don’t get the idea, we could always ask for precisions.

It just seems to be differences in perception, linked to social or cultural factors.

I’ll feel way closer intellectually speaking with a guy that shares my ideas while coming from NZ than with a French guy that sees reality with a different lens. And as much as I’ll want to, I won’t be able to communicate with that guy although we share all the linguistic nuances.

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