Laporte slams Barbarians
December 7, 2000

France coach Bernard Laporte on Thursday attacked the British rugby union establishment over the total exclusion of French players from the Barbarians squad to face South Africa Sunday.

"It seems that the English and the British in general continue to snub us," Laporte told the Daily Mail. "I find it absolutely staggering to see that the Barbarians are playing South Africa without a single French player.

"There are six New Zealanders, six Australians, four Irish, two English, two Argentinians, one Welsh and a South African but no French. It's a joke. "What does this mean? We reached the final of the World Cup last year. We have just beaten New Zealand, scoring 40 points against them for the second time in 12 months, yet we seem to represent nothing on the planet of rugby as far as the British are concerned.

"It was the same during the World Cup, when only one Frenchman made the refereeing panel. The International Board has always been ruled by the British and there is nothing we can do about it. It's a pity and I feel sorry for all the efforts made by French rugby in recent years."

The Barbarians have denied any intentional snub of the French with President Micky Steele-Bodger stating: "The French are in the middle of their club programme and it had been indicated to us, quite strongly, that they did not wish their players to be considered."

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