Berbizier quits the game for good

Pierre Berbizier has followed his resignation from Narbonne and accusation of drug-taking within the French championship by announcing that he has quit the game for good.

'I am completely fed up,' he said. 'It's better I stop everything and reorganise my professional life. Rugby taught me to be honest and courageous but it is in danger of losing those values.

'This is my last message: "I quit rugby."'

Berbizier, France's captain for the first World Cup Final in 1987, will swear to his dying day that he should have reached the pinnacle again eight years later.

He believes the France team he coached in 1995 were robbed by Welsh referee Derek Bevan's refusal to grant them a penalty try in the final minutes of the Durban semi-final against South Africa.