French centre apologises for lying in June

NEWS DIGEST: THE FRANCE centre Mathieu Bastareaud apologised yesterday for lying about being assaulted after a defeat in New Zealand in June.

“I want to offer my apologies to the French federation, the New Zealand federation, the staff and all the players of the French team,” the 21-year-old said.

“The right version of the incident is, as I said in a statement on June 25th, that I came back late to the hotel in a rather disreputable state and I fell.”

The Stade Francais player explained he was drunk and hit a bedside table.

Initially Bastareaud had said he was attacked by up to five people as he returned to the team hotel after a 14-10 defeat by the All Blacks in Wellington.

The centre, who has won four caps, was briefly suspended for three months by the French federation before the sanction was replaced by community service.

Bastareaud’s apology could pave the way for his return to the French team, with coach Marc Lievremont having been quoted as saying he would not select him until he said sorry.

Lievremont is due to announce a 30-man squad today for the first Test against South Africa in Toulouse on November 13th.

“I met Marc Lievremont and we talked about what happened. He told me the gate of the French team was still open for me and I thank him,” Bastareaud said.

Flanker RayOfisa and lock Michael Swift are doubtful for Connacht's Magners League clash against the Scarlets at the Sportsground on Friday.

Ofisa is struggling to recover from a head injury sustained some weeks ago while Swift, who is just two appearances short of Eric Elwood’s record of 161 caps for Connacht, is battling a rib injury.

“It is a matter of monitoring them and then making a call,” said coach Michael Bradley yesterday.

“There is a break of a month after this game so we don’t want to risk anything.

“This is a big game for us and a win would be a huge boost before the break.”