Dad storms pro rugby game to defend son in fight

(CBS/AP)

We've seen fathers of players lose their cool and storm the field before, but it's usually during meaningless pee wee games.

You would never see that paternal instinct kick in at a professional game - unless you were at a rugby match in France on Tuesday.

It started when star player Imanol Harinordoquy, a forward who plays for Biarritz, got into an altercation with Jean-Jo Marmouyet of Bayonne.

That got the attention of Harinordoquy's 62-year-old father, Lucien, who left the stands to join the melee and squared up to Marmouyet.

Another Bayonne player, Benjamin Boyet, threw the bespectacled father to the ground and stood over him with a fist raised before other players intervened. Harinordoquy Senior was escorted away and tried in vain to return to the field.

Bayonne president Michel Cacouault said Wednesday he'll file a complaint against Lucien Harinordoquy, who works as a livestock trader.

The feisty dad later apologized.

"Under pressure, and for various reasons, I totally lost control," the elder Harinordoquy said. "I regret behaving in this way."

Imanol Harinordoquy, who was one of France's best players during the knockout stages of this year's World Cup, had no comment on his father's actions. But 31-year-old rugby star is 6-foot-4 and 243 pounds so you'd think he'd be pretty embarrassed by the sight of his daddy rushing to his aid.

Quel dommage.