“What a farce!” Four days after seeing Fabien Galthié on the verge of tears at a press conference on Friday, this former captain of the Blues is still gritting his teeth. On the eve of the second test between the Pumas and the French XV at the Vélez Sarsfield stadium, the coach had repeated that day how the extra-sporting events of this nightmarish tour in Argentina were “difficult” to manage emotionally. Then he declared: “We are very demanding on the aspect of rules and regulations. It is a work on which every day, without concession, we try to build a group.”
Demanding, rules, no concessions… So many words that ring hollow in light of the cataclysmic chain of events from the night of Saturday 6 to Sunday 7 July in Mendoza during which full-back Melvyn Jaminet filmed himself making racist remarks, which earned him an exclusion from the French XV, before second row Hugo Auradou and third row Oscar Jegou were arrested and charged with aggravated rape of a 39-year-old woman, facts that they firmly deny, citing consensual sexual relations.
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