Premiership rugby side Leicester Dir of Rugby Richard Cockerill has “warned that rugby might have to segregate supporters if there are any repeats of an incident last Sunday in which Top 14 rugby side Toulon fullback Delon Armitage was allegedly caught up in a heated verbal exchange” with Tigers fans, according to Mick Cleary of the London TELEGRAPH. The European Champions Cup authorities are investigating the matter, “along with the verbal abuse dished out by the Toulon prop Martin Castrogiovanni towards Cockerill,” which took place at a separate time and place. Cockerill said, “If what has been reported is true, it’s not great is it? What will happen is that players and supporters will be more and more segregated and you will end up like football, where there is no relationship after a game between players and fans. I hope that day doesn’t come. Both sides, fans and players, need to treat each other with respect. Banter is one thing, abuse quite another.” Cockerill, “no stranger to controversy or the occasional rant against officialdom,” accepts that there are standards of behavior that have to be observed. He also believes that players have to take on board that their role in the public domain "means that they will be judged by different criteria" (TELEGRAPH, 12/10).
