Bizarre scenes in final as French broadcasters believe kit man Junior Paramore is head coach Pat Lam
Bristol made history last night as they triumphed in the Challenge Cup final over Toulon. Their kit man, Junior Paramore, got far more attention than he’d usually expect, however, as the French TV cameras remained fixed on him throughout the evening.
Fans on social media began to notice something was unusual after the camera would zoom in on Paramore after each major decision in the first half with a slow zoom, eagerly searching for a reaction.
It wasn’t long before the BT Sport commentators of Nick Mullins and Ugo Monye realised what was happening.
French TV thought that Junior Paramore was in fact head coach Pat Lam pic.twitter.com/oCJaSuosMt
— Edward Barker (@EdwardB24376757) October 17, 2020
As the first half wore on in what was an enthralling, end to end encounter, the pitchside cameramen continued to look for the close-up reactions of who they thought was Pat Lam.
Incredibly, no one informed them at half time that they had the wrong man and this continied to happen all the way through the match – even towards the final whistle.
French TV last night thought the Bristol kit man was Pat Lam pic.twitter.com/erF25NYgEH
— Edward Barker (@EdwardB24376757) October 17, 2020
Fans on social media saw the funny side of this mix up with Junior Paramore starting to trend on Twitter.
Solid from @BristolBears showed patience when they needed to after being hauled in following the early try they scored. Junior Paramore got more TV coverage than anyone! How can the director not be told he’s not Pat Lam?! 🤦🏼♂️ #RCTvBRI #ChallengeCupRugby
— Tulsen Tollett (@TulsenTollett) October 16, 2020
Man, I hope the french TV team speak to Junior Paramore after the game…
— Sam Roberts (@samrobertsrugby) October 16, 2020
Junior Paramore finally getting the camera time that all kit men deserve! #BristolBears #AlwaysABlue pic.twitter.com/O870BDGRca
— Chris Deverell (@TxtDrive) October 16, 2020
Someone have a word with the TV director and advise him that Junior Paramore is not Pat Lam, really poor. #RCTvBRI
— mattryanwoods (@mattryanwoods) October 16, 2020
Some fans, however, did not see the funny side and instead saw this incident not as a comical mixup but instead as a shocking case of causal racism on the part of the French broadcasters.
Brilliant watching this European rugby final (a good game too) because the French TV director keeps cutting to shots of the wrong coach for Bristol, confusing one Samoan Junior Paramore, a junior coach for the actual director of rugby Pat Lam. Racist, much?
— Ben Fenton (@benfenton) October 16, 2020
Great coaching performance too by Junior Paramore (according to the French TV Director) #casualracism
— lee bailey (@leebbailey) October 16, 2020
Did you notice these moment’s from last night’s final? Let us know what you thought.
