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Southwell marks Bastareaud's card
Stop this man: Mathieu Bastareaud cuts a fine line
Eyebrows have been raised at the level of forgiveness afforded to Mathieu Bastareaud, but not by his Stade Français team-mates.
Bastareaud's inclusion in the French team for the Six nations opener against Scotland means that eight months since sparking fury in New Zealand by claiming to have been assaulted when in reality he had fallen over in a hotel room, he has served his time.
Hugo Southwell, on the bench for Scotland but often a partner for Bastareaud in the Stade Français back-line is less surprised than others though, having witnessed the 21-year-old's resurgence in form since he returned from a ban and counselling over the new Zealand incident.
"For us this year he has been outstanding," said the former Edinburgh full-back to the Scottish Herald.
"He's scored some tries that there's not many other people in world rugby could score.
He is a physical guy and he is going to add to what is already a very physical back line with the likes of [Yannick] Jauzion, [Aurelien] Rougerie, [Benjamin] Fall and [Clement] Poitrenaud, they're all big guys and it shows what sort of game they are going to try to play against us.
Eyebrows have been less raised in France as well, where the youngster's destructive running and idiosyncratic appearance is fast achieving cult status.
"He [Bastareaud] is a strong character and he is absolutely loved in France. When we play games at the Stade de France he is one of the few guys who, when his name gets called out on the tannoy, it gets 80,000 people screaming," continued Southwell.
"It's the way he plays. He gives absolutely everything on the pitch, which is not to say anyone else doesn't, but he is so physical, something they probably haven't seen in France for a while. He can do things which not a lot of other guys can.
"Obviously they've got guys around him who compliment him very well. Jauzion's probably a more complete player, but he's more of an off-loader whereas Bastaraeaud is just a real, strong strike runner."
But Bastareaud is not invincible. Ulster all but negated his influence in the Heineken Cup tie at Ravenhill before Christmas and Southwell, having been integral to the video sessions in Paris in the aftermath, knows what the Scots need to do.
"Like Ulster did, when we played them in the Heineken Cup, they stopped him at source and it stopped our go forward," he said.
"That's what we'll have to do early on, put him on the deck as soon as possible and stop them gaining the momentum they need to attack off second and third phase ball."
Easier said than done.
