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'It's intolerable': Player sent off for lifting referee by waist as part of victory celebration in Pro D2
Bizarre scenes played out in France’s second-tier Pro D2 on Friday when a player was red carded for celebrating his side’s win by lifting the referee into the air.
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The incident played out in the dying stages of Nevers’ 30-25 victory over hosts Beziers, when referee Laurent Millotte blew full-time on the match.
Beziers wing Josaia Raisuqe celebrated his side’s win immediately after the full-time whistle sounded by grabbing Millotte by the waist and lifting him into the air.
Raisuqe was promptly sent off by Millotte, even though the incident took place after the match had finished, leaving the former Fijian sevens representative with an automatic suspension as per Pro D2 rules.
#PROD2 #ASBHUSON
C'est l'image insolite de la saison !Le joueur Josaia Raisuqe célèbre la victoire en mode "Roi Lion" en soulevant l'arbitre du match ??
Une célébration sanctionnée d'un carton rouge ? pic.twitter.com/acpsQdRFnT
— Rugby PRO D2 (@rugbyprod2) January 8, 2021
Reactions to Raisuqe’s celebration were mixed, with Nevers head coach Xavier Pemeja labelling the act as unacceptable.
“It’s intolerable. He’ll be punished by the league’s disciplinary committee,” Pemeja told Canal+ television.
“I’ll deal with him. I can’t accept it. What happened at the end there it’s going to be very bad,” he added.
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Others found the funny side of the Lion King-esque gesture, while some thought Raisuqe’s actions were “ridiculous” as many taking to Twitter to share their thoughts.
Funniest red card ever in French second division rugby tonight as Nevers player shared his joy at the final whistle with the referee https://t.co/GKsVnPeKl8
— Mark Rodden (@MRodden) January 8, 2021
What a daft thing to do, emotions running high in a winning outcome. Red card and game ban. Sufficient, no harm was intended, but appreciate player just shouldn't tough ref. Nothing more.
— Maurice Sweeney (@Mossy1671) January 8, 2021
https://twitter.com/springbokbabyyy/status/1347675331134693378
This isn’t the first time Raisuqe has courted controversy in his career, as the 26-year-old was sacked from Stade Francais in 2017 for “gross misconduct” after he was accused of sexual assault.
The victory keeps Nevers in sixth-place on the Pro D2 standings at the halfway stage of the competition, which would be enough to qualify for the play-offs.
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However, both seventh-placed Provence and ninth-placed Montauban could overtake Raisuqe’s side in the coming weeks with games in hand.
Beziers, meanwhile, remain in eighth place, trailing Nevers by four points.
Comments on RugbyPass
The URC and the Euro Championscup can’t run at the same time, basically dilutes both competitions.
1 Go to comments“While Sotutu should start at No.8 for the All Blacks against England, but it’s only in that arena that he can prove just how good he really is.” And that my friends is where simply hasnt shone despite multiple opportunities. Even in this performance you can see what did him in in the test arena..he almost always still runs at the opposition almost ramrod upright making him easier to stop than it should be.
1 Go to commentsShould have been 0-0 and a message from SR CEO to both teams - “don’t worry about turning up next year”.
3 Go to commentsGreat work Owen Franks. A great of this team, scoring his first try for the Crusaders since 2010.He was beaming, justifiably. A fine win, he and the rest did the job up front.
1 Go to commentsDanny Care. Lang in die tand.
1 Go to commentsBig empty stadium does nothing for atmosphere but munster are playing well with solid performance
1 Go to commentsYes, Fiji can win the World Cup! With that belief plus their christian faith🙏 and hard work it is achievable. Great article. Ian Duncan Fiji resident 1981-84
2 Go to commentsInteresting comments about Touch. England’s hosting the Touch World Cup this year and the numbers have exploded since their last World Cup in 2019, something like 70% more teams and 40 nations taking part. And England Touch have made a big thing about how many universities are in their BUCS University Touch Championship as well as Sport England membership. Can only see this growing even more domestically as more people become aware of it
10 Go to comments“Cortez Ratima is light years ahead of anyone on current form, while TJ Perenara has also skyrocketed into contention following the unfortunate injury to the talented Cam Roigard.” At last some sanity. Hitherto so many pundits have been wittering on about Finlay Christie to the point one wondered if they were observing a FC in a parallel universe where the FC they saw wasnt just the mediocre Shayne Philpott project of Fosters hapless AB reign in the real world. Ratima, Perenara and Fakatava are the ONLY logical 9s for Razor now Roigard is crocked.
3 Go to commentsThis game was just as painful as the Hurricanes game. It was real fork-in-the-eye stuff.
3 Go to commentsNow if they could just fire the Crusaders ground PA guy who likes to play his dance music and just loves the sound of his own voice the entire game, even when play is going on. And I thought their brass band thing of a few years ago was bad.
5 Go to commentsUnfortunately when you lose by far the two form players this season in Roigard and Aumua, you're left replacing two game changing Tanks with a couple of pea-shooters. Which is also about the speed of TJs pass.
4 Go to commentsBit rich coming from the guy with zero loyalty to anyone or any team, including happily taking a players place in a league world cup squad because well, SBW wanted to play in it and thus an already named player got told he was no longer going. And airing stuff like this, which may or may not be true, doesn't exactly say you're a stand up guy either SBW. Just looking to keep his name in lights as usual.
38 Go to commentsTamati Tua. …the Taniwha NPC midfielder. Ollie Sapsford, Hawkes Bay NPC midfielder…doing well
4 Go to commentsFiji deserve to be in the rugby championship, fans love seeing the Fijian national team play, the Fijian Drua is a wonderful idea but the players can still be stolen to play for NZ and AUS…
2 Go to commentsThe first concern for this afternoon are wheather forecast…
1 Go to commentsWhy cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful 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 comments