“Lucu…. Oooooooff! Goodness me!”
You could hear the sheer horror of the Premier Sports commentator as Ryno Pieterse attempted to tackle Maxime Lucu into another dimension.
Castres were trailing Bordeaux-Begles 23-20 in their Top 14 encounter, with under 15 minutes on the clock, when Pieterse took matters into his own hands.
On the pitch only 13 minutes, at that stage, for fellow lock Florent Vanverberghe, Pieterse saw Lucu putting the ball to the skies and lined him up for a big hit.
The Bordeaux scrumhalf was completely exposed and Pieterse, who signed with Castres from Bulls, last year, knew exactly what he was doing. As Bordeaux players charged to get hold of Pieterse, referee Romain Poite was already hollering ‘Carton rouge!”
A clear as red card as you'll see all season! 😱 pic.twitter.com/Q1yHp9ObDm
— House of Rugby (@HouseOfRugby) September 18, 2021
Poite broke up the scuffles as he told players not to mete out justice. A red card was coming, once he could pull Pieterse from under the mass of bodies.
Sure enough, Pieterse was not arguing. Off he strolled as the commentator tried to get his head around the shuddering replays.
It will be no surprise to learn Lucu was immediately substituted, with Yann Lesgourgues taking his place for the closing stages.
Bordeaux, who were down to 14 men at the time, had a player advantage for the final 10 minutes but Castres levelled the scores with four minutes to go, courtesy of Benjamin Urdapilleta.
It will be worth tracking the Pieterse case as he could well be set for a lengthy ban.
