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These are your evening rugby headlines on Sunday, March 29.
Commentator assaulted as investigation launched
An investigation has been launched after a commentator was “physically and verbally assaulted” during a match in France.
Thomas Palmier was commentating on Saturday’s Pro D2 clash between Stade Aurillacois and Biarritz Olympique for ICI Pays Basque radio when the incident occurred.
Biarritz star Edgar Retière had scored a late penalty to secure his side a vital win in their fight to avoid being relegated from the second tier and RugbyPass reports that Aurillac fans “unleashed their frustrations” on Palmier.
According to local reports, a fan rushed towards the commentator and struck him in the face before being removed from the stadium.
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In a clip taken from ICI Pays Basque’s radio coverage of the match, Palmier can be heard shouting “Tu veux me frapper? Tu veux me frapper? (…) Laisse-moi bosser!” (“Are you going to hit me? Are you going to hit me? (…) Let me work in peace!”).
Exactly what happened in the aftermath remains unclear, but the incident has been widely condemned, with the Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR) opening a full investigation into the incident and working to identify those involved.
In a statement, the league association said: “The LNR wishes to express its full support for the assaulted journalist, as well as for all the staff at ICI Pays Basque radio. Freedom of information and the safety of journalists must be guaranteed under all circumstances.”
Stade Aurillacois president Christian Millette also condemned the assault, saying that the club will assist the investigating authorities and adding: “The club wishes to express its full and unwavering support for the victim, Thomas Palmier.
“President Christian Millette has contacted him to formally offer the club’s apologies and assure him of support in any legal proceedings he may choose to pursue.”
Meanwhile, a statement issued by ICI Pays Basque read: “While covering last night’s match between Stade Aurillacois and Biarritz Olympique at Jean Alric stadium, a journalist from ICI Pays Basque was violently assaulted.
“The management of the ICI network and ICI Pays Basque strongly condemns these intolerable attacks.”
Dombrandt proud of Quins’ resilience in Cardiff
By Press Association Sport staff
Alex Dombrandt hailed Harlequins’ resilience after the Gallagher Prem strugglers stunned play-off hopefuls Bristol 18-14 in Cardiff.
Billed as Bristol’s Big Day Out fixture, it fell flat on its face at the Principality Stadium, with Quins ending a run of six successive Prem defeats that had stretched back five months. Quins went into the game a distant 26 points behind their opponents – but they ended it by claiming a first league away win since March last year.
“A lot has been said in the last few weeks, some of it unfortunate, but it will take more than that to break this group,” Quins captain Dombrandt told TNT Sports. “We have a lot of respect for each other, and we work for each other.
“No one gave us a chance coming here, but I felt that during the break for the Six Nations we were able to go after a few things, and although it didn’t show in the result against Gloucester (Quins’ previous game), we showed glimpses of what we had worked on.
“We took it on today. We didn’t have much to prove to ourselves, but this should keep some people quiet for the next week or so.”
Tries from Dombrandt and wing Rodrigo Isgro proved enough to keep Bristol at bay in front of a 45,000 crowd, while fly-half Jarrod Evans kicked a penalty and full-back Jamie Benson converted Isgro’s score before landing a 79th-minute penalty.
Bristol were never at the races, despite an early Fitz Harding try and James Williams conversion, and they slipped seven points behind fourth-placed Exeter with just six regular season games remaining, claiming a losing bonus through Steven Luatua’s late score that saw Williams again add the extras.
For their part, Quins closed the gap on Gloucester to one point and raised hopes of a possible top-eight finish that would mean Investec Champions Cup qualification for next term.
Quins head coach Jason Gilmore said: “I am proud and happy for the boys. We have gone through a really tough period. There is still a lot of work to be done, but I was happy with the fight and guts we showed against a good Bristol team.
“We were disappointed in our Big Game (against Bristol in December that Quins, lost 14-40). We felt we let our supporters and the club down that day, and we wanted a bit of revenge.”
Bristol have now got it all to do in terms of the play-offs, with three of their last six matches being against fellow top-four challengers Northampton, Bath and Saracens. And Bears defence coach Jordan Crane said: “The general feeling is frustration, with the event that has been on and what we showed.
“We had opportunities to score we didn’t take – the same as last week (against Leicester) – and it is very similar two weeks in a row. The fixes are there. We have got the right bodies in the building to fix it, we just need to do what we do better.”
McCall proud despite ‘gutting’ defeat
By Duncan Bech, Press Association Rugby Union Correspondent
Saracens director of rugby Mark McCall believes the fight shown in his team’s 21-17 defeat by Northampton can act as a springboard for the final rounds of the Gallagher Prem.
The loss at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium leaves Saracens 12 points adrift of the play-offs with six matches left to play, making it improbable they will challenge for the title.
But McCall admired their ability to recover from being hammered 62-15 by Bath last Friday and then coming back from falling 14-0 behind against Northampton before seeing their three-point lead overhauled by a 78th-minute Archie McParland try.
“I’m absolutely gutted to lose, but not gutted the way we lost,” McCall said. “To go 14-0 down so early after losing by 60 points last weekend, the way we fought our way back into the game was magnificent really.
“I’m actually really proud of the performance given what happened against Bath and some of the goal-line defence towards the end of the match. It’s gutting to lose it at the end, but we can work with that and go away dead proud of how we played.
“You want to be part of something good, as in something you can work with, something you can see building, and we haven’t felt that for a bit. We needed to feel that, and although we lost, we were two minutes away from having a really happy change.
“I know there’s something good to build on after this and if we go like that for the next eight weeks, we’ll actually enjoy it regardless. We’ve got a big game next weekend against Bath in Europe to throw ourselves into, nothing to lose, so I think that’s where we’ll look at it.”
Northampton extended their lead at the summit of the Prem to six points but victory came at a cost with Fin Smith failing an HIA, Trevor Davison being helped off with a leg injury and Emmanuel Iyogun departing with a back spasm.
Saints capitalised on some feeble defending by the hosts to storm into an early lead but boss Phil Dowson was disappointed that they then lost their way until the closing stages.
“We started really well. We created loads of opportunities in the first 20 particularly, but we didn’t convert many of those. We didn’t convert enough of those,” Dowson said.
“In the second quarter, we were on the back foot. The scrum was obviously an issue, which allowed them a foothold in the game and they pounced on it. I’d say the middle 40 of the game we’re a bit disappointed with because we couldn’t get into any sort of rhythm.”
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