Upon his return to his former club, Leicester Tigers, in this evening’s European Champions Cup Clash, Martin Castrogiovanni launched an astonishing verbal assault on his former coach, Richard Cockerill, describing the Leicester Director of Rugby as, amongst other things, a c*nt.

Storming into the post game press conference, demanding to talk to the English media, the Italian international tight-head let rip on Cockerill, the man who he claimed handled his 2013 transfer to Toulon in a shoddy manner.

‘I thought f****** Leicester were f****** amateur,’ said Castrogiovanni, who made 149 appearances for the Tigers during his stint at Welford Road. ‘He was saying that people go for the money but he has a lot of f****** squad players who get paid as well. I paid my own f****** money to leave this club. I don’t need the money to play rugby. I love this game and I used to love this club – I still love this club, but when people are up to here in water, they talk this talk but don’t walk the walk.

Castrogiovanni continued in a similar expletive fashion: ‘I never want to speak with Cockers anymore. I am the kind of guy that if I hate you, if you are not clear with me or if you have been a c***, how you say in English, I never want to speak to you anymore. That’s it. That’s how I am. I am not fake. If I hate you, I say in your face and I will never speak to you again. Love me or hate me. I don’t hate anyone. Peace and love. I just don’t like c****.’

Much to the chagrin of Castrogiovanni was the fact he felt that his decision to leave the Tigers was portrayed as nothing more than an attempt to make money. The Italian refutes these claims, and says the rationale behind him leaving was to seek regular game-time, as he had been usurped at Leicester by Dan Cole, a player who had his wages supplemented by the RFU.

In fact, Castrogiovanni claims that he had to pay one hundred thousand pounds of his own pocket to seal his move to France.

‘I never had the opportunity to defend myself when I left,’ added the Italian. ‘People talked about this s*** and money. Cockers talks about the money, but the real reason I left this club is because you have Cole and you have me. Cole paid gets paid half the money from the RFU and I am foreign.

‘What the f*** you want? You have a good f****** tighthead prop playing for England and a hairy fat Italian. The thing is that they made it look like I went for the money but I paid £100,000 from my pocket to leave this club because I want to play rugby. That’s it.

Richard Cockerill was more diplomatic in his interpretation of the situation and tried to pour cold water on the furore.

‘I’ve a lot of time for Castro; he’s a fantastic player and icon for this club and a great guy,’ said the Tigers Director of Rugby.

‘I always said I would pick on merit and I did. Dan Cole was third choice behind Julian White and Castro and worked hard to become first choice. Castro was released from his contract a year early and we agreed a transfer fee with Toulon. One day he’ll realise that’s just sport.

‘This club made him the player he was. I don’t want him to feel bitter towards us. One day we’ll have a beer together and smile about it.’

Well, we know for sure that a certain R.Cockerill won’t be on Martin Castrogiovanni’s Christmas Card list.

Source of Article: Daily Mail

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