Paris: Former France captain Abdel Benazzi understands how to restore strong relationships with Australian rugby better than most.

On his Test debut in 1990, against the Wallabies in Sydney, Benazzi was sent off for stomping on the head of Rod McCall in the first match of a torrid and infamous Test series. Five years later, he returned to the Harbour City to play club rugby in Warringah, where he made friendships that endure to this day.

Years later, as vice president of the French Rugby Federation, he worked closely with his former Warringah ballboy and now Rugby Australia chief executive Phil Waugh to reimburse all money owed for a Wallabies pre-World Cup match fee.

Benazzi still harbours regret for his actions in that 1990 series. The former back-rower can explain that rugby was pl

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