Bastareaud was already 'clashing' with his new MLR coach and captain
Mathieu Bastareaud may have played his last game of Major League Rugby (MLR) following the cancellation of the American competition due to the spread of the coronavirus.
What’s more, the mercurial Bastareaud was apparently clashing with both the coach and captain in his new MLR team.
The hulking centre signed for Rugby United New York (RUNY) but endured middling form on the pitch on arrival in the Big Apple. Last week the MLR cancelled the season entirely, so Bastareaud could have already have played his last game in the fledgeling league.
“He is your typical Frenchman,” former England fullback Ben Foden told RugbyPass on ‘The Lockdown’. “When things aren’t going well he moans a lot, he throws his arms a lot and things like that.”
“He had run-ins with Greg (McWilliams) our coach and Butch (Dylan Fawsitt) our captain. Bastareaud has played the game for a long time, he’s played at the highest level, gone to World Cups, captained France; obviously he has the calibre.
“So Butch sees this guy come in and thinks he’s going to reinvent the wheel, thinks he going to be a major force for us.
“Then in training he’s dropping the ball onto the foot, chipping it through, doing the typical French flair thing and Butch is like ‘What’s this guy doing? He’s meant to be a straight trucking 12 or 13’. They just clashed.”
Foden says the cancellation of the league was terrible timing for ‘Basta’.
“It’s a shame the season is finished because Bastareaud is really growing into his role. It takes a while to settle into America rugby as well.
“Bastareaud was never the type of player who was going to be making 40 yard breaks. What he was going to do was make three guys tackle him, offload it and suck in three defenders and make space for more of us.”
The French star started at centre for his new club but was quickly moved to No.8, where he seemed to find his groove.
“He moved to No.8 and we were starting to use him quite well. You could see in the last two or three games he had come on in leaps and bounds, because he was getting more and more involved in the game.
“Greg and Butch said they didn’t care what he was doing on the training field as long as he brought it on the weekend, which he had started to do.
?? @rugbyunitedny ?? #NYC pic.twitter.com/F4xCre1F1d
— Mathieu Bastareaud (@BastaOfficiel) January 24, 2020
“It’s disappointing for him as I think he’s only doing the one year.”
The 130kg centre’s first game may also have been a bit of an eye-opener for him according to Foden.
“After the first game in Vegas he was not happy. He was on to his agent on the phone and Lyon were saying they want him back. We got spanked in the game by a new franchise, New England (Free Jacks), who are our local rivals.”
“The pitch was super hard. It was like a wind-tunnel. It was so windy. The game was ruined by the weather and where it was played. You could see Bastareaud thinking, ‘I’m not sticking around to play here’. There was like one man and his dog (watching).”
However, things have improved, not least after Foden organised a night out in Vegas for the team.
“I organised a mass night out in Vegas. Like 24 of us all went out to a massive table in a big night club in Vegas and just cut loose, which I think perked him up a little bit. He needed it.
“I think he likes that side of it. The social side of it and going out with the boys. I think he was missing his family aswell, as his family weren’t out there.”
‘Basta’ seems happier now and is living in New York with his wife and child in a ‘really nice flat’ in the city.
FamilyDay? #BastaFamily pic.twitter.com/UikyAOiO8E
— Mathieu Bastareaud (@BastaOfficiel) March 3, 2020
Along with Ma’a Nonu and Tendai ‘The Beast’ Mtawarira, the Frenchman is the biggest signing in the league’s history. Sadly for all involved, the coronavirus may have robbed us of knowing how good he could have been, had the season not been canned.
Ce la vie.
WATCH: In 2018 former England fullback Ben Foden shocked the rugby world when he confirmed a switch to the newly formed Rugby United New York and Major League Rugby, America’s latest professional rugby venture.
Comments on RugbyPass
Beautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
4 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to comments