Axelle Berthoumieu’s ban for biting Ireland’s Aoife Wafer has been reduced to nine matches but Manaé Feleu’s citing was upheld by a disciplinary committee meaning both will miss the rest of the Rugby World Cup. France play England in the semi-finals on Saturday.
The pair were cited on Sunday after their 18-13 quarter-final win against Ireland. Berthoumieu was cited for biting Wafer and, while the flanker accepted the foul play, she was appealing against the length of the initial 12-match ban a disciplinary committee proposed on Monday. That had already been reduced from the starting point of 18 matches but was taken down to nine because of her clean previous disciplinary record, remorse and public apology.
Berthoumieu apologised to Wafer on social media on Monday, saying: “I lost my temper Sunday against Ireland. I know this is not acceptable and I am aware that this puts an end to my World Cup.
“I would like to apologise to Aoife Wafer and Team Ireland, my teammates and staff, FFR and all those who support us. It’s not the image I want to give, nor the player I want to be. I accept the sanction. Rugby is a respect sport and this gesture has nothing to do on a rugby field.”
Feleu appealed against her three-match ban for a dangerous tackle in the Ireland match because, although the captain accepted foul play had occurred, she did not agree with the proposed sanction. That appeal has been unsuccessful as the committee found: “The tackle was high, it made contact with the head of the Ireland player and the degree of danger was high.”
If the lock completes a coaching intervention programme, the ban will be reduced to two games, making her eligible to play after the World Cup concludes.
Fans have questioned why in particular Berthoumieu’s bite was not picked up by match officials during the quarter-final. The tournament’s competition director, Yvonne Nolan, said the “correct process” was followed by officials and added: “These types of incidents are notoriously difficult to deal with in-game. I recognise people will review screenshots and so on and they will have their own views but I would caution that these incidents are really rare.
“I don’t think I have ever seen a biting incident being dealt with in-game, they almost always require additional information after the game. That usually includes interviews with the player, ruling out things like accidental contact and they need to establish the force of the contact so a detailed statement from the player is typically needed. It usually needs an inspection of the site of any alleged bite and a review of the bruising or injury as it develops, sometimes even dental evidence becomes relevant over the course of these investigations.
“I would just say a word of caution of jumping to a conclusion and removing a player unless the evidence is really categoric in-game is really challenging and that is what the citing process is for. It’s there to deal with issues like this and the right process has been gone through.”
If France beat England this weekend they will face either Canada or New Zealand in the final on 27 September. Canada and New Zealand’s semi-final takes place on Friday.
