France centre Mathieu Bastareaud gave an angry speech to his teammates after their 21-14 loss to Fiji in Paris on Saturday.
The French were frustrated by a fantastic defensive performance from the Pacific Islanders, which saw the hosts slump to their eighth defeat in 11 Test matches and drop to ninth in the World Rugby rankings.
Bastareaud, who took over the captaincy from Guilhem Guirado in the second half, was overheard by TV microphones giving an impassioned post-match address to his teammates.
‘Who do we think we are?’ Bastareaud said. ‘We beat Argentina and we think we’re something special.
‘We have to start from scratch now and we’re at rock bottom. Because we’re pathetic, shameful, we have to be aware of that.’
Coach Jacques Brunel gave a similar view in his assessment of the match.
‘It’s a big disappointment. It’s difficult for me to find anything positive from tonight.’
Photo: Anthony Au-Yeung/Getty Images
