“I blamed myself,” confessed La Rochelle winger Teddy Thomas in an interview with AFP, after the spectacular foul on Racing 92 scrum-half Nolann Le Garrec which earned him a red card on November 26 in Top 14. Thomas must go to the disciplinary committee on Wednesday.
In the 25th minute of the match, counting for the 8th day and finally won by the Ile-de-France residents (32-10), Thomas attempts a kick over the defense to restart his team from his 22. Le Garrec is at the reception . The Rochelais, too short, extends his arm and slaps a tie on his former club partner.
“Everything happens very quickly: I do this little kick over the top because, at the Arena, I did thousands and it was coming back into my arms. At no point do I decelerate. I see that Nono (Nolann Le Garrec) has the ball. I know his physical qualities and I make this reflex gesture,” assured Thomas, who wore the colors of Racing 92 for eight years.
“Immediately, at the time, I blamed myself. Firstly, because he’s someone I really like and I played with him. And secondly, under no circumstances do I want to hurt anyone on the pitch,” added the international winger (30 years old, 28 caps).
This tie earned him a red card, the first of his career. “I have no other answer than to say that I understand. Cold, when I see the images again, I tell myself that the sanction could be less severe. But, it’s a Sunday evening match, everyone is watching so I also have a duty to set an example,” he further explained.
“It was a really shit week, I have to say. I had family problems, my girlfriend too. So I wasn’t very present in La Rochelle because I had to go down to Biarritz during the week to sort all that out. Then, red on the weekend. It was really a shit week, I have no other words… if not the worst week of my life. Really,” said Thomas, who went to the Racing locker room to apologize to Le Garrec and his former teammates.
“In fact, it was him (Nolann Le Garrec) who came to apologize to me to tell me that he had not done it on purpose. I told him, ‘Nono, you’re not going to apologize, it’s my fault’,” continued the maritime winger, adding that the Ile-de-France scrum-half was “ready to support him and plead in his favor during of his appearance before the commission.
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