2009-06-26 08:28:02 -
SYDNEY (AP) - The French rugby team held a final training run on Friday on the eve of its one-off test against Australia, just hours after one of its star young players admitted lying to New Zealand authorities over an alleged assault.
In a statement issued in France by his Stade Francais club, 20-year-old center Matthieu Bastareaud said he lied to Wellington police last Sunday when he said four or five men had attacked him after returning home late from a bar.
«I have to return to the events in New Zealand,» Bastareaud said. «I owe the truth to everybody. On Saturday evening, I went back to the hotel after drinking too much. I fell in my room, I hit a table and I snicked my cheekbone.
Bastareaud added that he panicked and was afraid of being axed from the French team.
«I didn't want to shock my family. I freaked out and I dug myself deeper into a hole,» he added.
The admission wasn't a total surprise to New Zealand government officials and police, many of whom had doubted Bastareaud's version of events from the outset.
Wellington city mayor Kerry Prendergast said Friday that several French players and possibly the French team coach and doctor were likely to have known that Bastareaud's claims to have been assaulted were untrue.
«I know from the start ... (police) had their suspicions about the story, they were keen to get to the bottom of it and I congratulate them for doing it so quickly,» Prendergast said.
Bastareaud, who returned to France from Australia on Monday, suffered facial cuts and severe bruising in what he claimed was an unprovoked attack.
But an examination of footage from close circuit television cameras in downtown Wellington produced no evidence of an assault and public appeals failed to locate a single witness.
New Zealand Prime Minister John Key and Prendergast wrote letters of apology to the French team immediately after the attack and rugby and tourism officials feared New Zealand's international reputation had been damaged by the incident.
New Zealand will host the 2011 Rugby World Cup and tournament and tourist officials feared fans might shun the event if they perceived New Zealand as an unsafe destination.
The New Zealand Rugby Union expressed «outrage» that Bastareaud's claim had «cast a negative light on rugby, Wellington and New Zealand.
«Like all New Zealanders, I am extremely disappointed with this series of events and will be expressing that concern to the French Rugby Federation,» chief executive Steve Tew said.
In Paris, the French Rugby Federation said it will begin disciplinary proceedings against Bastareaud. The FFR said in statement it was «shocked by the player's lies» and apologized to the New Zealand Rugby Union.
Earlier in the week, France coach Marc Lievremont announced sweeping changes to his team for Saturday's test against the Wallabies, introducing eight new faces and making a series of positional changes.
France split a pair of test matches against New Zealand, winning the first match 27-22 and losing the second 14-10.
Coach Robbie Deans opted for Adam Ashley-Cooper over teenager James O'Connor at fullback for Australia.
O'Connor, 18, started Australia's two tests against Italy _ both wins _ over the last two weekends, scoring three tries on debut. Ashley-Cooper came on from the bench to score two tries in a man-of-the-match performance in the second test.
Australia: Adam Ashley-Cooper, Lachie Turner, Stirling Mortlock (captain), Berrick Barnes, Drew Mitchell, Matt Giteau, Luke Burgess, Richard Brown, George Smith, Dean Mumm, Nathan Sharpe, James Horwill, Al Baxter, Stephen Moore, Benn Robinson. Replacements: Tatafu Polota-Nau, Ben Alexander, Phil Waugh, David Pocock, Josh Valentine, Ryan Cross, James O'Connor.
France: Damien Traille, Maxime Medard, Florian Fritz, Maxime Mermoz, Cedric Heymans, Lionel Beauxis, Dimitri Yachvili, Julien Puricelli, Fulgence Ouedraogo, Thierry Dusautoir (captain), Romain Millo-Chluski, Pascal Pape, Sylvain Marconnet, Dimitri Szarzewski, Fabien Barcella. Replacements: to be announced.
