Referee laughs in player’s face immediately after outrageous error
After suffering the indignity of missing a sitter, the last thing a kicker wants to see is the referee standing in front of them laughing in their face.
Unfortunately for Castres fly-half Benjamín Urdapilleta, that is exactly what happened at the Stade Jean-Bouin on Saturday against Stade Francais, but it was for a good reason.
With a easy penalty just in front of the posts in the second half, the Argentine No10 slipped while taking the kick, meaning the ball barely got above head height. This was not just a slight slip as well, this was a full on slapstick fall onto his backside.
This was already pretty funny, but then Urdapilleta began to inveigh that the Stade Francais team were putting him off by making noises. That was obviously too much for referee Ludovic Cayre, who pointed out that that was not the reason why the kick was missed. At the age of 36 and after playing hundreds of games of professional rugby, a bit of noise from the opposition is unlikely to put off a player of that experience. Also, at his age he should know that he would never get away with an excuse as ridiculous as that for slipping.
Fortunately for Urdapilleta, the missed kick proved to be fairly inconsequential as Castres were comprehensively beaten 26-7 by the Top 14 high flyers. The win kept Stade Francais in second place in the league, just three points behind leaders Toulouse, who were handsomely beaten by third place La Rochelle on the same day. Meanwhile, last season’s runners-up Castres are languishing in eleventh place, just three points away from the relegation play-off spot. Castres also sit at the bottom of Pool A in the Heineken Champions Cup having not one either of their opening two matches.
Take a look at Urdapilleta’s kick:
#TOP14 – La glissade de la J15
Attention sol glissant ⚠️
Petit problème de “pneumatiques” pour l’ouvreur du @CastresRugby qui obtient tout de même une belle note artistique pour sa tentative de but ! pic.twitter.com/ljFm4NnBAc— TOP 14 Rugby (@top14rugby) January 7, 2023
