Northern Edition

Select Edition

Northern Northern
Southern Southern
Global Global
New Zealand New Zealand
France France

'There has to be consequences for trolls': Zebo responds to appalling abuse directed at Andrew Brace

Andrew Brace /Getty

Racing 92’s Simon Zebo has said that “there has to be consequences for trolls” after referee Andrew Brace was withdrawn from Toulouse’s Heineken Champions Cup fixture against Exeter Chiefs at the Stade Ernest Wallon.

ADVERTISEMENT

The referee was scheduled to officiate the match on the 20th of December, but following a torrent of abuse he received online from French fans after last Sunday’s Autumn Nations Cup final, he will take charge of Wasps versus Montpellier at the Ricoh Arena on the 18th instead.

The Irishman faced some vile personal attacks on Twitter for missing a Billy Vunipola knock-on in the closing stages of the match, which ultimately led to England scoring a match-levelling try and winning in sudden death. A minority of fans even posted abusive messages on his late father’s obituary which he had posted recently on Twitter.

Video Spacer

Zebo calls out WR over their approach to the UAR’s probe into allegedly racist Tweets:

Video Spacer

Zebo calls out WR over their approach to the UAR’s probe into allegedly racist Tweets:

Brace’s compatriot Zebo took to Twitter after the EPCR announced their decision, and said: “Too many nasty cowards not being held accountable on social media…

There has to be consequences for trolls… shocking news about Andrew Brace…”

Online abuse is rife in other sports, particularly football, and there are constant calls from players for abusers to be held to account. Indeed, there have been instances where online trolls have been arrested for racist abuse.

Rugby has not experienced this to the same degree, but it plumbed new depths this week.

It is hard to believe that it was only this year that the #BeKind campaign gathered so much momentum, which sought to counter online abuse and trolling. The events over the past week suggest that the benevolence that was previously shown and endorsed has worn thin amongst some communities online as the year has progressed.

ADVERTISEMENT

Brace’s removal from duty in Frane was the smart play for the EPCR, but it marks a turning point for the game.

ADVERTISEMENT

LIVE

{{item.title}}

Trending on RugbyPass

Comments

0 Comments
Be the first to comment...

Join free and tell us what you really think!

Sign up for free
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest Features

Comments on RugbyPass

J
JW 2 hours ago
'Passionate reunion of France and New Zealand shows Fabien Galthie is wrong to rest his stars'

Ok, managed to read the full article..

... New Zealand’s has only 14 and the professional season is all over within four months. In France, club governance is the responsibility of an independent organisation [the Ligue Nationale de Rugby or LNR] which is entirely separate from the host union [the Fédération Française de Rugby or FFR]. Down south New Zealand Rugby runs the provincial and the national game.

That is the National Provincial Championship, a competition of 14 representative union based teams run through the SH international window and only semi professional (paid only during it's running). It is run by NZR and goes for two and a half months.


Super Rugby is a competition involving 12 fully professional teams, of which 5 are of New Zealand eligibility, and another joint administered team of Pacific Island eligibility, with NZR involvement. It was a 18 week competition this year, so involved (randomly chosen I believe) extra return fixtures (2 or 3 home and away derbys), and is run by Super Rugby Pacific's own independent Board (or organisation). The teams may or may not be independently run and owned (note, this does not necessarily mean what you think of as 'privately owned').


LNR was setup by FFR and the French Government to administer the professional game in France. In New Zealand, the Players Association and Super Rugby franchises agreed last month to not setup their own governance structure for professional rugby and re-aligned themselves with New Zealand Rugby. They had been proposing to do something like the English model, I'm not sure how closely that would have been aligned to the French system but it did not sound like it would have French union executive representation on it like the LNR does.

In the shaky isles the professional pyramid tapers to a point with the almighty All Blacks. In France the feeling for country is no more important than the sense of fierce local identity spawned at myriad clubs concentrated in the southwest. Progress is achieved by a nonchalant shrug and the wide sweep of nuanced negotiation, rather than driven from the top by a single intense focus.

Yes, it is pretty much a 'representative' selection system at every level, but these union's are having to fight for their existence against the regime that is NZR, and are currently going through their own battle, just as France has recently as I understand it. A single focus, ala the French game, might not be the best outcome for rugby as a whole.


For pure theatre, it is a wonderful article so far. I prefer 'Ntamack New Zealand 2022' though.

The young Crusader still struggles to solve the puzzle posed by the shorter, more compact tight-heads at this level but he had no problem at all with Colombe.

It was interesting to listen to Manny during an interview on Maul or Nothing, he citied that after a bit of banter with the All Black's he no longer wanted one of their jersey's after the game. One of those talks was an eye to eye chat with Tamaiti Williams, there appear to be nothing between the lock and prop, just a lot of give and take. I thought TW angled in and caused Taylor to pop a few times, and that NZ were lucky to be rewarded.

f you have a forward of 6ft 8ins and 145kg, and he is not at all disturbed by a dysfunctional set-piece, you are in business.

He talked about the clarity of the leadership that helped alleviate any need for anxiety at the predicaments unfolding before him. The same cannot be said for New Zealand when they had 5 minutes left to retrieve a match winning penalty, I don't believe. Did the team in black have much of a plan at any point in the game? I don't really call an autonomous 10 vehicle they had as innovative. I think Razor needs to go back to the dealer and get a new game driver on that one.

Vaa’i is no match for his power on the ground. Even in reverse, Meafou is like a tractor motoring backwards in low gear, trampling all in its path.

Vaa'i actually stops him in his tracks. He gets what could have been a dubious 'tackle' on him?

A high-level offence will often try to identify and exploit big forwards who can be slower to reload, and therefore vulnerable to two quick plays run at them consecutively.

Yes he was just standing on his haunches wasn't he? He mentioned that in the interview, saying that not only did you just get up and back into the line to find the opposition was already set and running at you they also hit harder than anything he'd experienced in the Top 14. He was referring to New Zealands ultra-physical, burst-based Super style of course, which he was more than a bit surprised about. I don't blame him for being caught out.


He still sent the obstruction back to the repair yard though!

What wouldn’t the New Zealand rugby public give to see the likes of Mauvaka and Meafou up front..

Common now Nick, don't go there! Meafou showed his Toulouse shirt and promptly got his citizenship, New Zealand can't have him, surely?!?


As I have said before with these subjects, really enjoy your enthusiasm for their contribution on the field and I'd love to see more of their shapes running out for Vern Cotter and the like styled teams.

286 Go to comments
TRENDING
TRENDING World Cup-winning halfback on Cam Roigard’s substitution in France loss World Cup-winning halfback on Cam Roigard’s substitution vs. France
Search