Terrible attitude of French fans

[Ragey Erasmus]

I've noticed in many games with the French and French clubs there is very little respect for the opposition. Kickers are repeatedly booed or jeered and all decisions by the referee get the same treatment regardless of how blatant it is. There is being passionate and there is being disrespectful. Am I the only one who feels French fans at the moment are damaging the culture of respect rugby prides itself on?

 

[Tony Manx]

Culture is defined as....

"the ideas, customs, and social behaviour of a particular people or society."

French rugby has always been like this and it adds to the passionate atmosphere!!

There are bigger problems than this in things like the "bish bash bosh" of the current game.

This development has not only made it usually quite boring, and less indistinguishable from league, but is also dangerous and reduces the playing life expectancy due to its physical nature!

 

[FrenchFan]

I've noticed in many games with the French and French clubs there is very little respect for the opposition. Kickers are repeatedly booed or jeered and all decisions by the referee get the same treatment regardless of how blatant it is. There is being passionate and there is being disrespectful. Am I the only one who feels French fans at the moment are damaging the culture of respect rugby prides itself on?

LOL . Turn the sound off.

 

[JJFlash]

I understand what you mean, ragerancher, having been to games at local level, there is little or no respect for the opposition, and none for the referees - if they dare to penalise the home team, they are exposed to all sorts of abuse.
However, I don't find it the same at Top14 level (and I'm talking about Stade toulousain). The majority of the supporters appreciate good rugby and will applaud good play from both sides, but there is always the one-eyed minority for whom there will be only one side on the pitch, but thankfully, they are few and far between.
But ...... don't expect the French to be quiet for opposition kickers - it won't happen, and that personally doesn't bother me.

 

[FNS]

I've noticed in many games with the French and French clubs there is very little respect for the opposition. Kickers are repeatedly booed or jeered and all decisions by the referee get the same treatment regardless of how blatant it is. There is being passionate and there is being disrespectful. Am I the only one who feels French fans at the moment are damaging the culture of respect rugby prides itself on?

In ARG we doe the same but only for Pumas or JAGs matches. Booing the Ref or making noise at oposing kicker =P. It´s wrong sure but the union of strangers booing together is something inherent to the feels of going to the "stadium"

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

I think a lot of it has to do with the -and I know I am going to sound like something of a snob at best here maybe even leaning towards bigotry but here goes- 'class' of rugby fan one can expect from different nations. In SA for instance your erm blue collar white man will be watching rugby whereas in England more probably they will be watching Soccer so you are probably more likely to find people who 'get into the spirit of it all' if I can put it that way in SA, Wales, NZ and parts of France than you would in England or say Aus. Also, that stiff upper lip going in the other direction..

 

[nickdnz]

I think a lot of it has to do with the -and I know I am going to sound like something of a snob at best here maybe even leaning towards bigotry but here goes- 'class' of rugby fan one can expect from different nations. In SA for instance your erm blue collar white man will be watching rugby whereas in England more probably they will be watching Soccer so you are probably more likely to find people who 'get into the spirit of it all' if I can put it that way in SA, Wales, NZ and parts of France than you would in England or say Aus. Also, that stiff upper lip going in the other direction..

To be fair - Twickenham isn't exactly a tower of respect during international rugby games.

 

[ncurd]

To be fair - Twickenham isn't exactly a tower of respect during international rugby games.

I know this comes from a terribly biased PoV but Twickenham at least is trying to keep that attitude. However admittedly it started to go wrong when the crowd started booing Andy Robinson (not undeservedly).

 

[RedruthRFC]

I think a lot of it has to do with the -and I know I am going to sound like something of a snob at best here maybe even leaning towards bigotry but here goes- 'class' of rugby fan one can expect from different nations. In SA for instance your erm blue collar white man will be watching rugby whereas in England more probably they will be watching Soccer so you are probably more likely to find people who 'get into the spirit of it all' if I can put it that way in SA, Wales, NZ and parts of France than you would in England or say Aus. Also, that stiff upper lip going in the other direction..

I understand what you're getting at, but I'm not sure I agree. In the South-West of England, rugby is very much an "every man" sport. Here in Cornwall (far South-West), it is the most popular sport to watch (in terms of attendance), at least half of the crowd at my local club would be categorised as "working class", but referees and opponents get treated with respect. Irrespective of their social status, people on the sidelines understand the standard of behaviour expected, anyone who doesn't has it explained to them quickly (I've seen it happen a few times and done it myself on one occasion). My recollection of games I've watched in South Wales is the same, although I seem to recall some pretty unsavoury behaviour on the sidelines in games / clips I've seen.

Personally I value the Corinthian attitude within rugby (interestingly the vast majority of soccer fans I've spoken to would like to see their game take a leaf out of rugby's book), maybe this is because I've been brought up to behave this way or maybe because I believe in the idea of sport being a metaphor for real life, but I can follow the idea that this is a cultural thing. Even if it is considered morally acceptable, I don't see why grown men or women would want to behave like spoilt children who didn't get their own way or like the audience of a pantomime.

- - - Updated - - -

To be fair - Twickenham isn't exactly a tower of respect during international rugby games.

Luckily the Twickenham crowd isn't representative of the English rugby watching public, although you're right that their behaviour is terrible and being at the national stadium, a poor reflection on the English game. One of the many reasons I'll leave Twickenham trips to the corporate beanos and once a year watchers and enjoy spending my time on the terraces of proper rugby clubs, enjoying the company of proper rugby supporters.

 

[LeinsterMan (NotTigsMan)]

I've noticed in many games with the French and French clubs there is very little respect for the opposition. Kickers are repeatedly booed or jeered and all decisions by the referee get the same treatment regardless of how blatant it is. There is being passionate and there is being disrespectful. Am I the only one who feels French fans at the moment are damaging the culture of respect rugby prides itself on?

Are you sure you're not talking about the shed and glous fans?

 

[RedruthRFC]

Are you sure you're not talking about the shed and glous fans?

From my perspective, Gloucester is in the Midlands somewhere!

Funnily enough, a mate of mine who is a steward for another club was forced to have a quiet word with someone in The Shed a couple of years ago! I've heard one or two stories of the "banter" there overstepping the mark. On my only visit, I was lucky enough to have some decent stand tickets, the crowd I was surrounded by were good fun while staying on the right side of good sportsmanship despite the extreme provocation of Richard Cockerill and Matt O'Connor, whose behaviour showed no decorum or sportsmanship what so ever! Joking aside, their loud, expletive littered bemoaning of every decision that went against them was sufficiently tedious that it did slightly mar my enjoyment of the game.

TBH I haven't played or watched much rugby in Gloucestershire to know if the majority fit with my definition of acceptable behaviour, although some of the stories I've heard from the Forest of Dean suggest that some certainly don't!

Edit: not trying to put South-West based rugby supporters on some kind of pedestal with my comments, just responding to TRF_stormer2010's point that the English crowds are better behaved because they're middle class.

 

[McTallshort]

The whole being silent for the kicker thing is so over the top. Does anyone really give a toss if the kicker gets booed?

There was a stag do on one of the Friday night games last season at Welford rd. All had a few, all good natured and were making a bit of noise when the kicking was going on. You would have thought from the reaction of the great and good in the seating section of the Holland and Barrett stand they were committing murder. Seriously relax everyone, the best thing about England playing at Murrayfield is the sound of the boo's when yet another English conversation goes over.

 

[die_mole]

i'm a young referee, i understand the whole not wanting ***** from players and coaches, but honestly getting booed by 20 to 50 thousand frenchmen means that you've made it as a referee

 

[gaston le gaff]

you have to be French or understand the French for the reasons why.!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

I understand what you're getting at, but I'm not sure I agree. In the South-West of England, rugby is very much an "every man" sport. Here in Cornwall (far South-West), it is the most popular sport to watch (in terms of attendance), at least half of the crowd at my local club would be categorised as "working class", but referees and opponents get treated with respect. Irrespective of their social status, people on the sidelines understand the standard of behaviour expected, anyone who doesn't has it explained to them quickly (I've seen it happen a few times and done it myself on one occasion). My recollection of games I've watched in South Wales is the same, although I seem to recall some pretty unsavoury behaviour on the sidelines in games / clips I've seen.Personally I value the Corinthian attitude within rugby (interestingly the vast majority of soccer fans I've spoken to would like to see their game take a leaf out of rugby's book), maybe this is because I've been brought up to behave this way or maybe because I believe in the idea of sport being a metaphor for real life, but I can follow the idea that this is a cultural thing. Even if it is considered morally acceptable, I don't see why grown men or women would want to behave like spoilt children who didn't get their own way or like the audience of a pantomime.- - - Updated - - -Luckily the Twickenham crowd isn't representative of the English rugby watching public, although you're right that their behaviour is terrible and being at the national stadium, a poor reflection on the English game. One of the many reasons I'll leave Twickenham trips to the corporate beanos and once a year watchers and enjoy spending my time on the terraces of proper rugby clubs, enjoying the company of proper rugby supporters.

I was of course generalising on a grand scale and there are regional exceptions and culture does indeed play a part. I just thought I'd throw in my very clumsy and half-considered observation.

 

[welshglory]

I've noticed in many games with the French and French clubs there is very little respect for the opposition. Kickers are repeatedly booed or jeered and all decisions by the referee get the same treatment regardless of how blatant it is. There is being passionate and there is being disrespectful. Am I the only one who feels French fans at the moment are damaging the culture of respect rugby prides itself on?

Munster, Ulster and to a certain degree Leinster fans are the exact same but you don't hear anything negative about them.

Oh is that because they do the all let's only shush for the kicker to show the other team respect thing?

Load of rubbish

 

[TRF_heineken]

My take on this is that the jeering and booing happens in a lot of countries, but at different levels. If you go to certain High School matches here in South Africa, you will get a lot of that and aggression by the parents, sometimes for the referee, sometimes for the other team. Certain areas in SA are also where this type of behavior are more common than in other. The East Rand for example, is a place where certain schools always dread of going because of the animosity they will experience there.

I for one think that the fans pay to be in the stands, and are part of the atmosphere of the match, why can't they participate? Nobody has a problem when they sing together the national anthem or when they celebrate a try or conversion, so why can't they also participate in showing negative responses?

 

[welshglory]

It is a specifically English (apart certain non posh areas), Scottish, Australian, and New Zealand thing to be quiet like a mouse during games, prawn sandwich brigade if you will.

"Sit down, you're blocking my view!", "be quiet i can't hear the ref!".

I would rather have spontaneous passion rather than mob mentality negativity, which is what you tend to see when you're not permitted to make noise during games!

 

[FrenchFan]

i'm a young referee, i understand the whole not wanting ***** from players and coaches, but honestly getting booed by 20 to 50 thousand frenchmen means that you've made it as a referee

rite of passage LOL - great way of looking at it :bravo:

 

[gaston le gaff]

until i hear the kickers or the ref complaining about it long may it continue, it adds to the atmosphere