The second French line made his announcement the day after a nudge that earned him the exclusion in the quarter-finals of the World Cup.
Monday, September 21, the day after his red card in the quarter-finals of the Rugby World Cup against Wales, Sébastien Vahaamahina announced his international retirement.
The second line of the XV of France, who was celebrating his 28th birthday, had been excluded from the field after elbowing third-row Welsh Aaron Wainwright at the 49e minute. Outnumbered, the players of the French team, who led then 19-10, were finally down 19-20 against Welsh players.
A retirement planned "for several months"
In a statement, transmitted to Rugbyrama, the player regrets this "Spontaneous and uncontrolled gesture" which he is the "One and only responsible". "My style of play and the position I play require a lot of aggression. An aggressiveness that I must nevertheless control ", writes the player, who specifies that his stop in selection has nothing to do with this gesture and was "Planned for several months".
"A cycle ends today, a page of my career is turning. I am 28 years old and I can not wait to rebuild myself, physically and morally, to come back even stronger ", adds the Clermont player, selected for the first time in 2012.
Vahaamahina had already lost her nerves in April 2018 with Clermont-Ferrand in a match against Agen in the Top 14, during which he had been permanently excluded for the first time in his career, after a punch. He then addressed the public a finger of honor, harvesting a total of three weeks of suspension, which had deprived him of the tour of the Blues, in June the same year, in New Zealand.
The teammates of "Vahaa" at the Blues have refused to impute their defeat in quarters Sunday. "He apologized, he was very moved," said Jefferson Poirot, insisting: "There is this unfortunate gesture, but at fifteen to fifteen it could also be the same scenario, we do not know. "
However, the player may regret this final match in selection: he had started very well, registering the first French test in the fifth minute.
Following the elimination of France, leek XV will face South Africa on Sunday 27 October.
Vahaamahina, he will be auditioned Thursday, October 24 by an independent committee of discipline, announced Monday, the International Rugby Federation.
He may not have penalized only the French selection with this gesture. His club, Clermont-Ferrand, is afraid of having to do without him for several games.
