Top 14 - Newspaper Review
Delmas slams referee display
Ian Moriarty
November 6, 2004

Concerns about the state of French refereeing once again took centre stage in the aftermath of the latest round of Top 14 fixtures on Thursday night.

Stade Francais boss Jacques Delmas was furious with the performance of manin the middle Cyril Lafon following his side's unconvincing 23-18 victory over basement club Albi.

"We've had enough," raved the former Biarritz man to the assembled media. "You have a referee and he either does his job or he doesn't. There is a rule regarding the tackler and the tackled player so if one doesn't pay attention to what the tackler does...

"You want me to ask my players to use their initiative? Albi play with what they have - good for them, the stadiums will continue to be filled. They play with what they have, but they need to be refereed too. And you, the journalists, write that instead of writing crap."

Castres coach Laurent Labit was another to point the finger after seeing his side draw 9-9 at home with Clermont Auvergne.

Speaking to La Montagne, Labit said: "Once again the referee didn't whistle for a penalty that could have won it for us. Maybe we're annoying [teams] because nobody expected us to be in this position [in the league].

"We're very disappointed and frustrated. This is the second time we matched big teams in Perpignan and Clermont and didn't get much out of it."

Meanwhile Jean-Baptiste Elissalde contributed 16 points as Toulouse ran out convincing 40-3 winners over Bourgoin at Stade Ernest Wallon, prompting captain Thierry Dusautoir to label the win as "positive".

"After the defeat to Racing Metro, it was a good reaction to put 40 points on Bourgoin," said Dusautoir, speaking to La Depeche du Midi.

"We really needed that bonus point in the bank before the two league matches that will be played without those who are off to don the colours of their respective countries. In addition to that, [the game] was enjoyable so everything was positive tonight."

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