France holds final training run for Australia test
Matthieu Bastareaud
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.
 The New Zealand Rugby Union expressed "outrage" that Bastareaud's claim had "cast a negative light on rugby  Wellington and New Zealand.
 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.
In a statement issued in France by his Stade Francais club  [TGT] said [TGT] lied to Wellington police last Sunday when [TGT] said four or five men had attacked [TGT] after returning home late from a bar.
 "I have to return to the events in New Zealand [TGT] 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.[TGT] added that [TGT] 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 [TGT] deeper into a hole " [TGT] added.
 The admission wasn't a total surprise to New Zealand government officials and police  many of whom had doubted [TGT]'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 [TGT]'s claims to have been assaulted were untrue.
 The New Zealand Rugby Union expressed "outrage" that [TGT]'s claim had "cast a negative light on rugby  Wellington and New Zealand.
 In Paris  the French Rugby Federation said it will begin disciplinary proceedings against [TGT]. The FFR said in statement it was "shocked by the player's lies" and apologized to the New Zealand Rugby Union.