Flanker gets away with ultimate act of gamesmanship right in front of referee
If a flanker’s main priority is to be a nuisance for the opposing scrum-half and fly-half, Stade Francais’ No7 Romain Briatte deserves a medal for his antics on Sunday in Paris.
With just four minutes on the clock of Stade Francais’ Top 14 encounter with Lyon at the Stade Jean-Bouin, the 30-year-old made it quite clear that opposing No9 Baptiste Couilloud was in for a long afternoon.
With Lyon having the put in at a scrum five metres from their own line, Briatte spotted an opportunity. This was not, however, your normal rugby opportunity, rather it was the fact that Couilloud’s laces were undone. The flanker took his chance, and bravely held onto the scrum-half’s laces for dear life as he put the ball in and tried to work his way to the back of the scrum, all while being about a foot away from referee Adrien Marbot.
Couilloud gesticulated passionately, but the referee was focussed on the scrum itself rather than any acts of skulduggery going on outside it. To the No9’s relief, Lyon won a scrum penalty anyway, but Briatte certainly went 1-0 up in his battle with the half back.
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