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<\/p>\nMartin Bayfield has spoken about his new book A Very Tall Story at the Henley Literary Festival<\/p>\n
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Martin Bayfield has recalled starring in one of the most violent rugby matches of all time for England against France during a conversation at the Henley Literary Festival.<\/p>\n
The English actor, broadcaster, and former rugby union player, 56, was interviewed by journalist John Hopkins at the annual event, for which The Independent <\/em>is an exclusive news partner. Bayfield discusses his time with England and the British and Irish Lions \u2013 among other topics \u2013 in his latest book, A Very Tall Story.<\/em><\/p>\n Bayfield, who was capped 34 times for the Red Rose, and toured New Zealand with the British Lions in 1993, falling 2-1 to the All Blacks but appearing in three Tests, retold the story about one of the craziest test matches in rugby history, a 31-13 win in France on their way to a grand slam in the 1992 five nations.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was a period of time when England had huge success over the French, in 1992, since the 1991 World Cup quarter-final, one of the most violent games, it\u2019s a chance for France to have payback. We had won our first two games, back-to-back grand slams. At the Parc des Princes, my favourite stadium ever, amazing place,\u201d recalls Bayfield.<\/p>\n \u201cThe French are terrifying, they look amazing, they sound terrifying, the stadium is incredible and the atmosphere was numbing. The front row were covered in blood after headbutting each other. They look awesome. Olivier Roumat, Wade Dooley’s opposite number. Nobody came out on top against Wade.<\/p>\n \u201cOlivier had to think outside the box, punched Wade, knocked him unconscious. It was astonishing because he did it during the anthems. Wade got up. The referee came over to Olivier and shook his hand. We thought that was unusual. <\/p>\n \u201cHe looked at the ref and said, \u2018do not send that f***er off\u2019. We thought this will be a good game. We should be fine and we were absolutely fine.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was a violent game. They ran us ragged for the first 20 minutes. Then we got an early try and they turned on themselves, the French will lose the plot and the crowd will go against them. I\u2019m at the bottom of the ruck, this guy Gregoire Lascube stamps on my head, it rings the bell. Brian Moore says, \u2018stay down, we\u2019ll get this f***er off\u2019. <\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m lying there and he\u2019s off. Then there\u2019s a scrum, Jeff Probyn, just the most annoying man, a horrible individual, starts to wind up the opposite number. As the scrum goes down, they try to headbutt the English front row. The referee warns them again, then at the next scrum, Jeff blows them a kiss and it all kicks off, headbutt, two sent off! We win in France. We enjoyed ourselves after the game. It was astonishing.\u201d<\/p>\n Henley Literary Festival continues until 8 October. <\/p>\nRecommended<\/h3>\n
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