France and Gloucester hooker Olivier Azam has requested an apology from Newcastle director of rugby Rob Andrew to prevent him launching legal action over a racism slur.
Azam was last week cleared by a Rugby Football Union investigation into Andrew's allegation that he racially abused Newcastle's Epi Taione during a English league clash at Kingsholm in December.
Azam, who came on as a replacement during yesterday's Grand Slam-sealing 44-5 victory over Ireland in Paris, has just completed a five-match ban after being sent off for fighting during the game.
But it was Andrew's post-match accusations which have caused Azam the most pain, and he is set to meet Gloucester officials tomorrow to decide whether to take legal action after the RFU failed to find any evidence to back up Andrew's claims.
"If he apologises, either to me personally or through the press, that would be sufficient for me," said the 27-year-old.
"This has been the worst experience I have ever had in rugby.
"I spoke with Epi Taione for 10 minutes at the hearing last week and there are no problems between us. We both just wanted to get it finished and carry on with our careers.
"But I haven't spoken to Rob Andrew, I don't think it's down to me. His comments created a big story for nothing. It's difficult to handle being accused of something like that.
"It is for him to say he is sorry now, but I appreciate it must be hard because he is a big personality within the game."