video. Rugby World Cup 2023 – ‘The New Zealanders were poisoned before the 1995 final’, says Philippe St-Andre

Philippe Saint-Andre dropped everything. In front of the RMC microphone, the former France XV winger’s eyes filled with tears when he spoke about the 1995 World Cup. Captain of the Blues in South Africa, the former Clermont player was unable to hold back her tears on Sunday morning. “The day before the final (South Africa-New Zealand), the New Zealanders were poisoned. 80% of their men fell ill. At the reception, the president of the South African FA gives a special prize to the ‘referee, a watch worth 30,000 euros.’ The All Blacks then left the reception for the final…”

If the referee makes a mistake tonight, I hope he’s on the right side

Philippe Saint-Andre also returned for the famous semi-final of the XV French Championship against the Springboks. On a flooded pitch, the Blues lost to the locals after several questionable, even unfair, refereeing decisions. “It’s very difficult for me to talk about it. For twenty-eight years, I never said it was a scandal, even though I was the captain of that French team. I didn’t want to look like an old fool or a bitter old man, but when we see everything that happened, we can ask ourselves the questions. I will explain to you the facts. In preparation for the match, the referee gathered the captains and coaches and told us: “I think the match will not take place. It is not possible to play a rugby match due to the weather conditions.” The South African captains read a small booklet and realized that if the match did not take place, it would be France who would have reached the final thanks to fair play because South Africa had been shown a red card in the group stage. And you can see the pressure that was put on the referee in the locker room…” He says.

I collapsed, it felt so good

“The second thing is that we had four attempts disallowed. Then Robin Kruger, their third row, who scored in the 26th minute, wrote a book saying he never flattened. Another thing, at the end of this game, we are five meters from their line, they smashed the huddle Five times, now, with the video referee, it will be a penalty attempt. Alongside Yann Delaig, who was also part of the 1995 saga, the former coach of the French XV (2012-2015) also took the opportunity to send a message of motivation to the current French players, who will face the Springboks in the quarter-finals. This Sunday evening. “If the referee makes a mistake tonight, I hope he’s on the right side. Come on Blues, I hope we finally knock South Africa out of the World Cup! I collapsed after that, twenty-eight years of waiting is good!” The former Blues captain concluded.