There were ugly scenes in the closing stages of Oyonnax's 27-20 defeat to Grenoble in the Top 14 last weekend, with full back Silvère Tian seeing red for insulting referee Romain Poite. Tian, who hails from the Ivory Coast, had been penalised for an infringement on the floor, resulting in a yellow card after his team's persistent offending. But Tian took his frustration out on referee Romain Poite and delivered an expletive tirade which gave Poite no option but to issue a red card. Tian initially received his marching orders for shouting to Poite "Piss off!" (fais chier!) before apparently telling Poite "I'll get you after [the match], son of a bitch" (je vais te choper après, fils de pute). True to his word Tian, still livid, stuck around at the end of the match and even tried to confront Poite as the referee walked down the tunnel. Tian was held back aggressively by his own team staff before eventually breaking free. It's not the first time a player has been sent off for insulting a referee in the French league. Sergio Parisse famously was banned for 40 days after he lambasted referee Laurent Cardona. In the Aviva Premiership Dylan Hartley also received his marching orders, and missed out on the 2013 British & Irish Lions tour, after he swore at referee Wayne Barnes. It is likely that Tian will receive an even more severe ban for his actions towards Poite. Tian did score an excellent try earlier, which you can see in the official highlights on page two

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