PARIS, 31 January 2003 — French international flanker Serge Betsen returns to action for his club Biarritz yesterday after a six-week ban imposed during the World Cup in Australia.
Betsen was sanctioned on the basis of video footage evidence that he kicked England scrum-half Matt Dawson in the head during the World Cup semifinal in Sydney.
The incident had gone unnoticed by the match referee at the time, though Betsen was sinbinned in the second half of the game for a late tackle on England hero Jonny Wilkinson.
Betsen and the French team were angry at the ban saying that the flanker had been pinned at the bottom of a ruck and had only been trying to wriggle his leg free.
The hard-working Biarritz back-rower said that he still felt hard done by for what he insisted had been a purely accidental gesture.
“I am raring to go with my teammates at Biarritz and have been working hard during the enforced break to get fully fit again and recover from my injured knee,” Betsen told L’Equipe newspaper.
“You have got to look on the positive side of things as it gave me time to get treatment for the knee injury which had been bothering me in Australia.” Betsen said that although he had not spoken to France manager Bernard Laporte since returning from Australia he had been given full backing both at the national level and at club level.
But the 36-times capped flanker said it was too early yet to talk about the 2004 Six Nations tournament.
