Remy Grosso had to be hospitalised after being on the receiving end of a swinging arm during France’s 52-11 loss to the All Blacks on Saturday.
After referee Luke Pearce harshly yellow-carded French lock Paul Gabrillagues for a high tackle, Grosso appeared to be hit by a swinging arm from All Blacks flank Sam Cane, causing him to clash heads with prop Ofa Tu’ungafasi.
While awarding a penalty for the incident, Pearce refused to card Cane or Tu’ungafasi, leaving France coach Jacques Brunel seething.
‘The injury of Remy Grosso is quite serious,’ he said. ‘I think that the way he was done by the All Blacks pair was illegal.
‘I don’t know precisely what the problem is, but he is at the hospital,’ Brunel added.
However, Brunel refused to blame the decision for the loss, saying that they needed an all-round improvement if they hope to beat the New Zealanders in the next two Tests.
‘Yellow card or no yellow card, we had to keep going. This is just the beginning and we can’t improve everything in just a week. We have to improve in attack, in defence and that’s what we’re aiming to do over the next week.’
Photo: Anthony Au-Yeung/Getty Images
