Lesgourgues gets France’s first hip-drop yellow card

In the 39th minute of Agen v Biarritz (52-17), referee Anthony Lac sent Lesgourgues to the sin bin after a TMO review, Rugbyrama reports.

What the new law says

Since November 1, World Rugby has included the hip-drop tackle in law 9.13 on dangerous play. It targets a defender who comes from the side or behind, swivels and drops his weight onto the ball carrier’s legs, risking knee and ankle injuries. According to French refereeing chief Mathieu Raynal, it should lead to a red card “in the vast majority of cases”, with a yellow or a penalty still possible depending on the danger.

A third yellow in nine games

At 35, Lesgourgues had already been sin-binned twice this season: at Aurillac on October 9 (52-33) and against Soyaux-Angoulême on October 16 (27-27). That makes three yellow cards in nine Pro D2 games this season. In two of those games Biarritz conceded 52 points.

Biarritz did not dispute the call. “If it is dangerous for players, something had to be done. Then you have to see whether the tackler really throws himself at the ankles or knees, whether he makes the effort to be side-on. It is complicated to referee,” said coach Boris Bouhraoua. Fly-half Edgar Retière said the action was “difficult” to avoid in a chase, without blaming the defeat on it: “I don’t think the card necessarily changed the game. As with any new law, there will be a period of adaptation and perhaps some errors of judgement. That’s modern rugby. We will have to adapt.”

Agen had prepared their players

Agen boss Mauricio Reggiardo welcomed the change. “We received the communication from the refereeing department three weeks ago. We knew it would apply from this week. We had time to warn the players and show them videos,” he told Rugbyrama, before adding: “Rules are there to be respected. I am not the one who makes them up. It is for player safety and that is very good.”