Saracens taken off during Agen battle

By Jason Harris (filed: 25/8/03)
August 26 2003

Saracens coach Rod Kafer removed his players from the field after 55 minutes of a fractious, often violent encounter with French side Agen at Stade Armandie on Sunday night.

With Sarries trailing 18-11 and had already been down to 14 players after the first yellow card for Andy Goode, Kafer reportedly decided enough was enough when captain Simon Raiwalui was sin-binned.

Reports from France are sketchy, but French rugby paper Midi Olympique claimed on its web site on Monday that Kafer believed that the game, marred by many fights and off-the-ball incidents, was "too dangerous" for Saracens to continue.

Sarries fans at the ground reported that the game was blighted by fighting from the off and that neither side were blameless when it came to dirty play. However, some Agen supporters were adamant that Saracens were to blame for the violence with former Man in Black Christian Califano a regular target.

An article on the official Agen website said Former Saracens and Agen player Philippe Sella, whose name adorns the trophy for which the two teams were playing, went into the Sarries dressing room to try and change the minds of the players and coach Kafer, but after five minutes' consultation, they decided that they were leaving the ground.

The article then went on to slam Sarries for not being "cordial" and also said that by not returning to finish the match was not "sympathetic" to the spectators.

Saracens have yet to comment officially and it remains to be seen whether the club, Rod Kafer or the yellow-carded Raiwalui and Goode will be punished for their actions.