RUGBY HAS DONE a pretty good job of cutting down on fighting in the game.
More often than not the closest it comes to boiling over is an extended period of jersey-grabbing and maybe a shove here and there.
This weekend though, Perpignan’s heated ProD2 south France derby away to Carcassonne showed that it only takes a word or two to light the fuse.
Everything appears to be under control in this 18th minute scuffle until former international centre David Marty took issue something uttered by flanker Benoit Lazzarotto and the scene was turned in to a whirlpool of red and yellow.
Marty was handed a red card for his part as was Carcassonne scrum-half Bastien Dupuy. The sides restarted with 13 men aside as Alin Coste and Kiril Kulemin took a place in the sin-bin for Carcassonne and Perpignan respectively.
While the match was low on numbers, former Munster centre Lifeimi Mafi went over for a try to help Perpignan on their way to a 9 – 38 win.
