Incredible footage of two Montpellier players tussling with each other before their Top 14 game against Racing 92
Montpellier team-mates fight each other before kick-off
The physical nature of rugby means we often see pushing and shoving during matches. There are tussles after scrums and penalty awards, and unfortunately there are occasions where things get more serious and punches are thrown. Yet these altercations are always between players on opposing sides.
Before Montpellier’s Top 14 game against Racing 92, players from the same team were seen fighting with each other! And this wasn’t a minor incident either, with team-mates having to hold the two main Montpellier protagonists back as they tried to land punches.
Footage of the scrap between Bismarck du Plessis, the former South Africa hooker, and prop Mohamed Haouas was caught by French broadcaster Canal+ – watch it here:
Le choc de la 20ème journée de @top14rugby tient ses promesses dès l'échauffement ! Séquence étonnante: deux joueurs du @MHR_officiel échangent des coups de poings et doivent être séparés par leurs coéquipiers.
Un sommet qui promet d'être chaud bouillant ! pic.twitter.com/5st11C5C3Y— Canal Rugby Club (@CanalRugbyClub) March 10, 2018
It’s certainly unusual to see team-mates clashing at a match, although we do often here about times when things have boiled over in training. However, it didn’t seem to affect Montpellier’s performance at the Altrad Stadium.
They went on to beat Racing 41-3. Jan Serfontein scored a brace of tries while Nico Janse van Rensburg, Timoci Nagusa and Louis Picamoles also crossed in the bonus-point win.
The margin of victory is notable when you consider this was a top-of-the-table clash. Montpellier and Racing are leading the way in the French top flight this season, but this result now puts Vern Cotter’s team eight points clear in the table on 66 points.
Racing sit second on 58 with Toulon and Toulouse, both with 57 points, following in third and fourth.
Both Montpellier and Racing were missing players who were representing France in their Six Nations match against England in Paris.
Related: France 22-16 England match report
Montpellier’s Benjamin Fall and Yacouba Camara were heavily involved in France’s win, while Kieran Galletier made an appearance off the bench. Racing’s Maxime Machenaud, Wenceslas Lauret and Cedate Gomes Sa also played in the victory, with scrum-half Machenaud kicking four penalties.
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