France loose forward Axelle Berthoumieu was handed an effective six-month ban for biting at the Women’s Rugby World Cup while captain Manae Feleu was ruled out of the rest of the tournament for a dangerous tackle, World Rugby said on Monday.
The two players will appeal against the sanctions, however, ahead of France’s semi-final against top-ranked England, and a hearing on Tuesday will determine their fate.
Berthoumieu was handed a 12-match ban, which will rule her out until March, for biting Ireland’s Aoife Wafer in Sunday’s quarter-final while Feleu was cited for dangerous play in the same match and banned for three games.
Berthournieu admitted her actions in the foul play review hearing, where the replay cleared showed her biting Wafer’s arm in France’s 18-13 victory at Sandy Park.
Les Bleues were down 13-0 at the time of the incident, which was flagged by Ireland captain Sam Monaghan to referee Aimee Barrett-Theron, but Berthournieu was not shown a red card despite TMO reviewing the footage.
World Rugby said in a statement: "In reviewing the matter live, the TMO was unable to determine clear and obvious foul play and did not have the benefit of additional evidential submissions to corroborate."
The Frenchwoman will miss the semi-final against England and either the bronze-medal match or final on September 27, and then another 10 games going up till March 2026.
Berthournieu’s appeal will be heard on Tuesday, and the same will go for Feleu, who was found guilty of head-on-head contact at speed.
