The incident took place during Racing 92’s defeat to Perpignan at the weekend
Nolann Le Garrec’s act of simulation in Racing 92’s defeat to Perpignan in the Top 14 at the weekend has seen calls for a suspension to be handed out.
The scrum-half’s theatrics have been called out on social media after an incident late on in the match on Sunday.
In the 70th minute and with Racing down 28-17 and in search of a way back into the contest while playing with 14 men following a red card to Vinaya Habosi, Le Garrec flung himself to the floor in embarrassing fashion, akin to what many would deem an act more associated with football.
Le Garrec reacted theatrically to a collision with Perpignan’s replacement prop Bruce Devaux, clutching his face after a collision and falling to the ground. Sign up to Inside Welsh rugby on Substack to get exclusive news stories and insight from behind the scenes in Welsh rugby.
You can watch the incident below.
Racing 92 medics came on to the field to check on the scrum-half but the officials weren’t having any of it, despite the incident happening right in front of the referee.
Le Garrec stayed on the deck for some time, with his team-mates non-plussed by the incident.
Whistles then rang out around the stadium when it was re-shown on the big screen.
The referee spoke with Le Garrec but took no further action.
Perpignan held on for the win and Le Garrec’s actions were quickly called out online, with former international referee Nigel Owens not pulling any punches with his verdict of the incident.
“He is lucky I wasn’t refin (sic) or he would have had a straight red no hesitation,” Owens said on X.
“Genuinely think that deserves a ban. Absolutely ridiculous,” rugby journalist Paul Williams wrote.
Fellow hack Brendan Gallagher stated that it should be “six weeks minimum for this sh***osery”.
