Mathieu Bastareaud is ready to focus on playing international rugby again after causing the French team huge embarrassment by lying to police about being assaulted in New Zealand last summer.
Bastareaud initially claimed that he had sustained facial injuries by being attacked by several men following a night out during the team’s tour in June, and it quickly escalated into a political affair between the nations.
Bastareaud, who has been doing community service work, was excluded from France’s matches against South Africa, Samoa and New Zealand in November. But the burly center now hopes to play in his country’s opening Six Nations match, against Scotland on Sunday.
PHOTO: AFP
“A new adventure is beginning, you have to stop talking about the past all day long,” Bastareaud, who plays for Stade Francais, said on Monday. “I feel stronger. I am at ease, relieved and I want to move forward. I want to play in the [2011] World Cup and win the [Six Nations] tournament.”
Bastareaud’s morale dropped to rock bottom when the late-night incident blew up into a full-scale political saga, eventually prompting French Prime Minister Francois Fillon to send a letter of apology to his New Zealand counterpart John Key in July.
“When you have nothing left, you only have your family around you,” said Bastareaud, who has played four times for France under coach Marc Lievremont. “I had to start everything from scratch.”
The 21-year-old, who is Arsenal and France soccer star William Gallas’ cousin, took flak from all sides. Some said he should never play for France again.
“I thought about stopping rugby, yes. It crossed my mind,” Bastareaud said at France’s Marcoussis training camp. “I won’t ever forget all that was said and written ... I will never forget it [but] I am living with it better.”
Bastareaud suffered a suspected broken eye socket and needed stitches to close facial cuts after France’s 14-10 loss to New Zealand in the second Test of its southern hemisphere tour.
Bastareaud claimed he had been attacked by up to five men in central Wellington in the early hours of the morning. The French press speculated that he had been fighting his teammates, while Bastareaud said he was drunk, slipped and fell face-first onto a bedside table in his room.
He praised Lievremont for ignoring the huge clamors to permanently discard him.
“I had a chat with Marc and he said that I would be in contention if I started playing at a decent level again,” Bastareaud said. “I just tried to concentrate on what I had to do on the field.”
Inter on Sunday were given a letoff when they snatched a late 1-1 derby draw with AC Milan, while league leaders SSC Napoli were held by a late goal at AS Roma. Reigning champions Inter remain three points behind Napoli, who looked to be heading five clear as they led in Rome until Angelino volleyed in a stunning leveler in the first minute of stoppage-time. Angelino’s strike gave even more significance to Stefan de Vrij’s last-gasp equalizer at the San Siro. The defender forced home Nicola Zalewski’s knockdown just as it looked like Tijjani Reijnders’ opener would be enough for Milan. “I can
Santiago Castro on Tuesday had an immediate impact off the bench as he scored the goal to send Bologna into the Coppa Italia semi-finals for the first time in 26 years. Bologna won 1-0 against last year’s runners-up, Atalanta BC, and are to play either holders Juventus or Empoli in the final four. Juventus are to host Empoli in their quarter-final on Feb. 26. The last time Bologna reached the semi-finals was in 1999, when they lost 4-2 to ACF Fiorentina. There were chances for both sides in a high-tempo match in Bergamo, but it was Bologna who broke the deadlock 10 minutes from
The Washington Capitals and Winnipeg Jets on Saturday did not disappoint in a thrilling midseason matchup in front of a fired-up sellout crowd of more than 18,500 fans. The top two teams in the NHL delivered with a combined nine goals, including the 877th of Alex Ovechkin’s career to put him 18 back of breaking Wayne Gretzky’s record. That tied the score, the Jets pulled it out in overtime and just about everyone involved got their money’s worth out of the 5-4 game. “We knew how we were both sitting in the standings and both having real good years,” Winnipeg coach Scott
After nearly six years away from the NBA, New Taipei Kings player Jeremy Lin (林書豪) is set to participate in the 2025 NBA All-Star Weekend’s Rising Stars mini-tournament as the coach of Team G League. The NBA announced Monday (U.S. time) that the Taiwanese-American player will join a trio of Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famers – Tim Hardaway Sr., Chris Mullin, and Mitch Richmond – as honorary coaches for four teams featuring 28 rising talents. "See you soon in the Bay," Lin wrote in an Instagram story sharing the news. As the All-Star Weekend will take place at