Former referee Nigel Owens has stated he would have had “no hesitation” in awarding Racing 92 and France scrum-half Nolann Le Garrec a “straight purple” for his dive in the newest spherical of Top 14 motion.
The 22-year-old grew to become public enemy quantity on rugby social media following his dramatic collapse to the bottom on Saturday in his aspect’s 28-24 defeat to Perpignan on the Stade Aimé Giral.
After making head-on-head contact off the ball with Perpignan’s Bruce Devaux, Le Garrec writhed on the ground clutching his face underneath the nostril of referee Kevin Bralley. Whereas the gamers might nicely have butted heads, it was by no means intentional from the prop, who flippantly grazed 10-cap France worldwide’s face as he circled.
Le Garrec has been met with a tidal wave of opprobrium within the wake of his sham, with rugby scribe Peter Jackson describing his behaviour as “shameful” on X. However the criticism doesn’t finish there, with additional requires the No.9 to face a ban.
Owens, who has plenty of viral videos of his treatment of divers during his illustrious officiating career, waded into the discussion on social media, saying Le Garrec was “lucky” that he was not refereeing.
While extreme, RugbyInsideLine pointed out online that the Welshman may well have been within his rights to brandish a red card, as a dive contravenes World Rugby law 9.27: “A player must not do anything that is against the spirit of good sportsmanship.”
Though Racing lost the match, dragging them back into a relegation play-off scrap with Perpignan and Parisian rivals Stade Francais, Le Garrec’s theatrics tarnished what was actually a decent individual display where he kicked nine points.
Racing host bitter rivals Stade Francais this weekend in what might be a defining match of their season. Although the requires a ban are merely social media hysteria at present, shedding Le Garrec can be catastrophic for the Prime 14 strugglers.
🍿 Correct theatre from Le Garrec right here.
Deserves a ban for it.
Obtained to stamp this type of stuff out of the sport the place attainable.pic.twitter.com/NitRPUnDAK
— RugbyInsideLine (@RugbyInsideLine) April 20, 2025
