Rugby videos of tackles, tries, funny incidents and more: Lionel Beauxis

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Lionel Beauxis - Look Ma, no hands!

Not too long ago we were singing the praises of Stade Francais fullback Lionel Beauxis as he showed us a sublime piece of skill against Bath in the Heineken Cup.

When it happened it was one of the most sensational pieces of skill (and camerawork) we'd seen in some time, but Beauxis has managed to undo all that in an instant, as he's gone from hero to zero with this faux pas against the same team.

He attempted to volley the pass from make-shift scrumhalf Hugo Southwell, resulting in a fly-kick that connected with nothing but the mist of Paris.

Luckily for him the moment of madness didn't cost his side the win, as they came out 15-13 winners despite scrumhalf Michael Claasons diving on the loose ball to score in the mud.

It's one of the strangest things we've seen on a rugby field, with the fly-hack being described by the commentators as an own-goal, if there were such thing in rugby.

While even the best make mistakes on occasion, it shows you what a leveller international sport can be. At one moment you're on top, the next you've made an embarassing blunder.

Perhaps in future Beauxis will stick to the boring, yet tried and tested option of actually catching the ball rather.

Time: 02:17

Oooo, got the first, maybe....

By No.7, at January 21, 2010 3:42 pm
Yeah whatever se still kicked Bath's arses hard

By bidlibow, at January 21, 2010 3:45 pm
...oo i did, anyway, bit of a shocker for the frenchman! although, it was a daft moment, i wouldnt right him off for it. (hero to zero...)

The french are not going to be happy about Attoub, 70 weeks...

first off, nothing against the french, but im happy! not because its a kick for stade, or because it happened to an irish man, but because its a wake up call to anyone who feels it is acceptable to do this!

good call! lengthy bans will hopefully rule this out!

By No.7, at January 21, 2010 3:46 pm
Wow No.7, totally off topic. Have you got no other means of ranting about something completely different?

Funny moment. Embarassing, but obviously we all make mistakes. Nothing to get too offended about (bidlibow).

Funny how it's him who's done this though, considering that other bit of skill lol

By Scotsdale, at January 21, 2010 3:55 pm
I think it's great that Beauxis tried this - I'm sure he knew at the time that it was not the percentage option, but he tried something new and it could have worked brilliantly. This is why we watch sport - it would be awfully boring if it was predictable, it's good to see people attempt something difficulte, even if they don't always succeed. Better luck next time Lionel! It's nice to be able to say something positive about Stade for a change...

By Mike, at January 21, 2010 4:11 pm
im sure it was something brought up in practice that worked for a bit but when put into a game situation failed. it looks like what he was trying to do was just get a quicker kick off so there would be no chance of the clearance kick being blocked, but it was a shitty pass, terrible weather and just a bad decision.

By shoe, at January 21, 2010 4:15 pm
thats why the french are crap at football

By Anonymous, at January 21, 2010 5:06 pm
^^^^ HAHAHA! love it

By rodofle, at January 21, 2010 5:23 pm
wow.. show off gone wrong.. rugby players shouldnt do such things.. team mates must be mad with him tho..

By Anonymous, at January 21, 2010 5:24 pm
I've done this on a few occasions and it's always worked out......always a complete fluke too !!!!

By Third Centre, at January 21, 2010 5:39 pm
I cannot think of a humorous phrase to describe this piece of lunacy! Although hilarious for everybody apart from mister Beauxis!

By Nicky07, at January 21, 2010 6:08 pm
Scotsdale i take it you cant read.....i did infact comment on the video.....

And bearing in mind Attoub plays for Stade Francais, i'd say it is pretty much on topic.....

....and in terms of ranting, it was hardly a rant....this is more of a rant.

.......

By No.7, at January 21, 2010 6:24 pm
i'll try this at training tonight!

By sebastian, at January 21, 2010 6:36 pm
In France, rugby players play with their feet and footballers with their hands :-)
Nothing to laugh at: we win in both situations.

By Threma, at January 21, 2010 7:22 pm
terrible weather! come on stade francais !!

By dezzy, at January 21, 2010 8:04 pm
No.7, fair enough, it just seemed a bit random how you went off on a tangent. :)

But I see the Stade connection now.. so I guess it makes sense, ish.

That banning was insane though, considering it was based on photos? Ouch.

About this vid - it would have been funny to see the air-kick in super slow mo like that other clip.

By Scotsdale, at January 21, 2010 8:18 pm
Someone's well full of himself...

By Jeff, at January 21, 2010 9:39 pm
what a spanner

By Anonymous, at January 21, 2010 9:44 pm
Totally agree with you, Mike.
I don't think his partners are wrong with him because he feels guilty, look at him just after the action.

What I don't understand is WHY is the try awarded???
He clearly makes a forward, he never press the ball on the floor! Or I am blind...

By 3/4 centre, at January 21, 2010 9:56 pm
What had gotten into his mind?

By vinniechan, at January 21, 2010 10:55 pm
lol would have been great if he'd have pulled it off, not something to try when your in your 22 though:P

By Matt, at January 21, 2010 11:54 pm
i like to run hard when i play this game ^_^

By No.7, at January 21, 2010 11:57 pm
3/4 centre said...
What I don't understand is WHY is the try awarded??? He clearly makes a forward, he never press the ball on the floor! Or I am blind...

It was a close thing 3/4, but the slo-mo shows that for a brief moment his forearm had downward pressure on the ball against the ground .. that's all it needs for a try.

By eye-R-bee, at January 22, 2010 2:26 am
retard, dumb decision, that would never be an option in training, a gamble like that, never, tell the scrumhalf to do his job properly.

By Anonymous, at January 22, 2010 3:57 am
All swing, NO DING!
He's obviously one of those people who wants pull off a certain element of flair via other skills not usually used on the field. E.g. him controlling a high ball with his foot, then trying to do this offensive no hands clearance kick and obviously some other trick in a couple weeks time.

Glad he cocked up, should have gotten a serious clip round the ear from his coach at half-time for trying to show off.

By Anonymous, at January 22, 2010 4:25 am
the guy is too cocky. the skill agaisnt bath in england was brilliant but he is getting too cocky for his own good. those sort of things could cost him a french place in the six nations

By Anonymous, at January 22, 2010 10:53 am
Can we all forget about Attoub now

Hillarious commentary on this clip from the godsend of rugby blogs that is BLOOD AND MUD.

"However, Lionel took it way too far this weekend by attempting a round-house kick (on the volley!) to a pass from his scrum-half, UNDER HIS OWN POSTS! On top of that he missed, leaving himself pirouetting in the breeze like some mental tramp who believes he is Rudolph Nuryev while Claasens scored for Bath."

Its the mental tramp bit that got me, he couldnt have described it better lol.

By Kenny, at January 22, 2010 11:32 am
I agree with 3/4 centre: no try.
nb 9 never controls or presses the ball down. at best he manages to keep it right in front of his nose, lets it roll a little AND he grabs it to score.

Even if the scene is hilarious, "it's pure French class" is one of the shittiest comments i've ever heard. As if you were dumb enough to say "It's SH players' well-known finishing quality" for this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s31hBB0UEqo

And yes, Beauxis isn't in the Franch 6N squad.

Attoub: 70-day ban is a lot, especially when you are his age but... I'm fed up with all this eye-gouging thing so if long bans can help, let's go for it and hope the next gouger will get this at least, whatever his nationality. We all have to wait to shout "plot". The IRB President himself asked for longer bans: Bernard Lapasset (French).

oh and btw, Rémy Martin got a 40-day ban for happy-stamping JB Elissalde (20 for this stamping and 20 extra ones because he'd already done something of the sort and he'd sworn he'd never do it again)

By Maximus, at January 22, 2010 6:47 pm
I agree with 3/4 centre: no try.
nb 9 never controls or presses the ball down. at best he manages to keep it right in front of his nose, lets it roll a little AND he grabs it to score.

Even if the scene is hilarious, "it's pure French class" is one of the shittiest comments i've ever heard. As if you were dumb enough to say "It's SH players' well-known finishing quality" for this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s31hBB0UEqo

And yes, Beauxis isn't in the French 6N squad.

Attoub: 70-day ban is a lot, especially when you are his age but... I'm fed up with all this eye-gouging thing so if long bans can help, let's go for it and hope the next gouger will get this at least, whatever his nationality. We all have to wait to shout "plot". The IRB President himself asked for longer bans: Bernard Lapasset (French).

oh and btw, Rémy Martin got a 40-day ban for happy-stamping JB Elissalde (20 for this stamping and 20 extra ones because he'd already done something of the sort and he'd sworn he'd never do it again). And JBE IS in the 6N squad.

By Maximus, at January 22, 2010 6:49 pm
"Attoub: 70-day ban is a lot, especially when you are his age but... I'm fed up with all this eye-gouging thing so if long bans can help, let's go for it and hope the next gouger will get this at least, whatever his nationality."

Haha. Quinlan and Burger must be laughing loud at this time... 7 & 8 weeks against 70 weeks for the same fault, sorry but no one will believe in ERC "justice".

By Dalma, at January 22, 2010 9:25 pm
maximus its 70 weeks not 70 days....you probably just mistyped rather than being misinformed but thought id mention it.

Wish Gareth Thomas would play in my club!

By Kenny, at January 23, 2010 2:19 am
hmmmm, yeah, as much as im happy to see the ban of 70 week for a gouge not for any other reason (before im strung up by the french fans) i think its a shocker compared to other bans. (Quinlan, Burger, etc)

i suppose the picture was pretty damn obvious though, unlike burgers gouge which people claimed didnt show fingers in the eyes.....

By Anonymous, at January 23, 2010 4:42 am
Maximus said.. "never controls or presses the ball down".

The law doesn't say he has to control it (in League he does have to). It only says there needs to be a moment at which the arm (or hand or torso) has pressure on the ball as the ball touches the ground. I agree with the commentator that the video shows that this happens.

By eye-R-bee, at January 23, 2010 4:47 am
You're right Kenny, i mistyped it, i really intended 70 weeks. Had it been 70 days, Attoub would still be streaking across the Stade de France stark naked frantically showing fingers with relief and yes... get another ban for doing this.

I don't know if Quinlan and Burger are laughing but i think somehow they must FEEL lucky. Considering ERC "justice" all depends on its future bans and especially its consistency.

And for the try thing, where can you find those rules according to which you can score with the ball half-slipping/spinning under the "pressure" of your little finger?
I'm not picking on you eye-R-bee, no irony, i'd just really like to see them, it's just for me, because honestly Beauxis's miss deserved a try.

By Maximus, at January 23, 2010 11:09 am
@Maximus ... that's fair enough and in the interest of sorting this out I did some Googling. Unfortunately despite the IRB (no relation) saying that you can download the complete laws from their site, their PDF only has some sort of summary of the laws and, for a try, only says the attacking player must "ground the ball", which isn't much help. If I'm missing something I'd be pleased to know.
Wikipedia has a much more detailed definition which includes this: "If the ball is on the ground or just above it, it can be touched to the ground with a hand, arm or front torso. For a try to be awarded they consider whether the player had the intention to ground the ball and the control of it when they did. Grounding of the ball can be instantaneous, it does not matter if the player immediately lets go and the ball then bounces forward."
If this is a correct stating of the law then I think in general it supports my theory about this clip. However I would agree that some "control" seems to be a consideration, but without being a necessity. Because how can momentarily hitting your arm on a grounded ball (which must be a try by this definition) at the same time be seen as "control"? So it's all a bit confusing.
Me, I'd give the try I see on this video but I wouldn't consider anyone evil if they didn't.

By eye-R-bee, at January 24, 2010 2:35 am
I had done some fast googling too and I couldn't think Wiki was a little more precise than the IRB itself which, as you said, was of no help.
I still wouldn't award the try since I'm not evil (lol) and it doesn't change much to this game anyway.

On the other hand, I find this puzzling:
you can't have a clear cut opinion about this action whereas it's THE moment of the game and this IN SPITE OF the rules (which can't be found or are rather vague) AND the video!! Important matches deserve better and it's no wonder why so many people unfamiliar with rugby are lost the 1st time they try to watch a game.

Cheers for answering

By Maximus, at January 24, 2010 2:32 pm
I agree, Maximus, that the real puzzle here is why it's so difficult to find a clear and unambiguous description of what constitutes "grounding the ball" for what's considered the principal method of scoring in the great game. I hope somebody in the IRB is clear on it but I'm beginning to wonder.

By eye-R-bee, at January 25, 2010 1:17 am