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France coach Jacques Brunel has changed his stance in regards to his opinion on the tackle that left winger Remy Grosso hospitalised with a double skull fracture on Saturday night.
Grosso left the game at the 60-minute mark following a tackle that saw both Sam Cane and Ofa Tuungafasi make contact with his head.
Brunel first described the incident as both “dangerous” and “illegal,” but has since retracted his statements after reviewing the tackle further.
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“On the first image, I said illicit. On the second, I think it’s accidental. Although, in the same vein I think Gabrillagues’ yellow card is hard,” he told French website Rugbyrama.
Cane was penalised and nothing more was made of the tackle by referee Luke Peare and TMO George Ayoub.
Earlier in the match, French lock Paul Gabrillagues was shown a yellow card for a high tackle on All Blacks midfielder Ryan Crotty, despite not making clear contact with the head.
English referee Pearce – officiating his first tier-one Test match – went straight to the pocket without needing replay.
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Replays of the incident later showed Gabrillagues making contact around Crotty’s shoulder.
The All Blacks scored two tries against the short-handed French and kicked on to eventually win 52-11.
When quizzed about Brunel’s opinion, All Blacks coach Steve Hansen defended his team.
“We have been called cheats for 100 years, haven’t we? If you keep winning, people will find reasons I suppose,” he said.
Hansen elaborated on the incident further.
“I can understand they’ll be a little bit miffed when their guy got yellow-carded, and as I said last night I don’t think [he] should have been yellow-carded, and nor do I think Ofa should have been yellow-carded either,” said the All Blacks coach.
“Our game is really fluid, there’s movement in it, and when you get two guys coming in to make a tackle on one, things can change late. That’s what happened.”
The teams will meet again Saturday at Wellington’s Westpac Stadium.
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