Wed 21 Aug 2013 | 12:07
Midweek Madness - Damien Traille takes a dive and gets player sinbinned

32
Comments

The Top 14 is back in full swing and with it comes the many characters that such a diverse league brings. One of those is Damien Traille, who was never far from the action during Biarritz's 22-18 loss to Clermont at the weekend.

Traille and referee Romain Poite had a few disagreements during the match, and at one stage the French center even needed to be pushed away by teammate Dimitri Yachvili after too much protesting in the refs ear.

In the last ten minutes he took things a bit far in his quest to get the ref on his side, and it worked.

A theatrical dive, as seen in certain other sports, might have actually even been penalised by officials, and it looked for a second like Poite considered it, but instead it resulted in a yellow card for Clermont's Julien Bardy.

The flanker was probably in the wrong, but Traille's dive was nothing short of ridiculous.

The commentator says it's part of French rugby, and while some players or teams might do it more regularly, over the years we've seen some shockers from different parts of the world. 

You can view those in the Related Posts below. They're all comical, but also quite sad to see.

32 Comments

  • danknapp
    10:39 AM 26/08/2013

    http://youtu.be/TgMjV3Yse3U

  • danknapp
    10:36 AM 26/08/2013

    Hang on, Translator, what did Rugbydump say here? I don't want to get it wrong.

  • danknapp
    10:34 AM 26/08/2013

    God, you're so right. Those best tries of the week compilations he puts up are just terrible. And the clips of french flair. C'est fou, non?!

    Au revoir, Matt.

  • silky
    12:21 AM 23/08/2013

    makes me laugh and shake my head when I see players diving in football, seeing it happen in rugby makes my blood boil. he even gave out a girly fuckin scream to go with it. hope he looks at this clip and realises how disgraceful his actions were and that this trend doesn't continue

  • bunn
    11:34 PM 22/08/2013

    Yep, many refs would consider it a professional foul

  • benny
    5:14 PM 22/08/2013

    I love the total look of anguish on his face as he goes down as if he's just been stabbed in the stomach, rather than barely tackled. A flop to milk the 10m penalty would have been one thing but this next-level actressing takes it into the football realm

  • drg
    2:42 PM 22/08/2013

    Wow, I forgot about that incident, that was pretty disgraceful...

  • drg
    2:36 PM 22/08/2013

    I meant that the examples seemed to show an over the top reaction from the supposed "victim"... I think Troncon on the other hand gave Stringer a hefty clout lol..

  • drg
    2:33 PM 22/08/2013

    ...Not all French, it is world wide, however it has been more prevalent in French rugby...

  • drg
    2:31 PM 22/08/2013

    Apparently you didn't attempt to translate what RD or anyone else wrote??

  • asdfero
    9:34 AM 22/08/2013

    This is shameful.

  • rugbydump
    8:31 AM 22/08/2013

    Here it is Bryan Habana cited for alleged kick on Vincent Clerc

  • rugbydump
    8:28 AM 22/08/2013

    Isn't that obvious..? I don't see any mention of a high tackle anywhere

  • stubby
    5:27 AM 22/08/2013

    The dive merits a sportsmanship 1 game ban. And maybe a tattoo of a soccer ball on his forehead.
    The yellow for Clermont was valid for deliberately slowing the game from an offside position.

  • cheyanqui
    10:51 PM 21/08/2013

    Alessandro Troncon got 30 days for swatting away an Irishman....

  • drg
    10:46 PM 21/08/2013

    Seen a couple players hanging onto a lock that have over reacted when swatted; Lee Byrne was one I believe...

    POC got a card (red/yellow) for swatting away a cling-on...

  • drg
    10:43 PM 21/08/2013

    I think it's definitely a yellow more because of not retreating rather than the dive.

    The dive was pathetic, and in my opinion not funny... I can see how people could chuckle and how ridiculous it is, however I worry that rugby might head towards soccer...

  • drg
    10:39 PM 21/08/2013

    HAHA Definitely, great idea actually!!!

  • reality
    9:28 PM 21/08/2013

    Actually, I just realised there are two completely non-French examples in the related posts. Although Lionel Faure against Leinster is another that comes to mind.

  • reality
    9:21 PM 21/08/2013

    I don't mean to generalise here, but, as someone mentioned above, I have the impression that this is very much a French thing. Not specifically French players, but French teams. If you look at the related posts, the two play-actors are players playing in France, then there was Mirco Bergamasco for Stade Francais who did his best to get Matt Banahan sent off for a completely legal tackle, then there was Damien Traille again who pulled Bryan Habana's leg into him and then claimed that Habana kicked him, and even got him cited. The only non-French one I can think of was Olivier Azam of Gloucester diving on the ground after Tom James gave him a very light nudge with his head, although Azam is French. Maybe I'm forgetting about all the other non-French examples, but I'm noticing a bit of a trend.

    Also, I wonder would a referee be justified to give a yellow card in an example like this for unsporting behaviour, or is there a specific provision in the laws for diving.

  • 07015678
    8:37 PM 21/08/2013

    Yellow card them both. Damien Traille- you dick head.

  • sweettrav
    8:02 PM 21/08/2013

    That dive gets an 8.6 from the Russian judge! I'm pretty sure that I voided my bowels the first time I saw this. On the replay I just put my face in my palms and died a little inside. Disgraceful with no place in rugby.

  • jimothy
    7:56 PM 21/08/2013

    I know! I'd stop paying your monthly subscription fees to RD if I was you!!!!

  • xxxwookie
    6:44 PM 21/08/2013

    Tap and go, absolutely no attempt to return to an onside position before making a tackle, that's a 10/10 yellow card.

  • facepalm
    6:16 PM 21/08/2013

    Surely if the card is for not retreating 10 metres he would've been sent off regardless of the pathetic dive?

  • colombes
    6:02 PM 21/08/2013

    i didn't like Traille sneaky behaviour

    but reading (like often) bullshits such like "typical french", make the discussion even more uninteresting

  • goodnumber10
    5:18 PM 21/08/2013

    it's easy to criticise Traille but the whole thing was born from frustration... yeah it was comical and OTT, but it seems more a "oh, come ON!!!!" rather than a footballer dive!

    He's still a d*!k thouch.

  • elvis15
    4:56 PM 21/08/2013

    A yellow would be a bit harsh unless there had been previous related infringements and they'd been warned about it. I could see that though if it was preventing a sure score or something and seen as cynical. Not sure of the context in this game though, and whether or not it warranted that on the basis of being within the 10 meters.

    As far as Traille, disgraceful, and hopefully that's well remembered by any number of teams and he gets a nice hard hit to give him first hand experience of a situation that might warrant the look he had on his face.

  • wertas
    4:31 PM 21/08/2013

    Regarding yellow card, (I'm not good at rugby laws) is it mainly because Clermont stopped quick Biaritz attack or during the first 10 meters you can't tackle after quick tap?

  • cheyanqui
    4:28 PM 21/08/2013

    Would love it if someone took a diver,
    placed them in the recovery position, and
    then started screaming towards the sidelines for a doctor.

  • obroersma
    4:18 PM 21/08/2013

    French Rugby is becoming more and more like the footy game. Such a shame, I hope he gets cited for this un sportive behaviour.

  • kettlerugby
    3:38 PM 21/08/2013

    Traille that was ridiculous...you mug