Mathieu Bastareaud has apologised for his stupidity as he faces a lengthy ban for an ugly act of thuggery for his Toulon club team.
Bastareaud was sent off for a swinging forearm to the head of Castres lock Christophe Samson who lay unprotected on the ground.
Toulon survived without their skipper and big midfielder for the final 10 minutes to win the Top 14 match 27-20.
Former internationals and TV commentators blasted Bastareaud with former England Andy Goode being particularly vocal on Twitter.
I see @BastaOfficiel lost his head for @RCTofficiel with a forearm smash to the head of @samsonchris4 who was lying prone on the floor. As @skysportsmiles said, it was bordering on assault. Shocking act that is indefensible and he should receive, as @WillGreenwood said, a big ban pic.twitter.com/vrQIVtQ0na
— Andy Goode (@AndyGoode10) September 9, 2018
But not everyone agreed with Goode with a number of very annoyed Frenchman firing back at his tweet:
I’ve been getting some heat from my friends over in France about the Bastaraud incident! This has to be my favourite as ironically I like figs!! pic.twitter.com/7taBO8AaCZ
— Andy Goode (@AndyGoode10) September 11, 2018