France forward Oscar Jegou has been cited for an alleged eye-gouging incident in the Six Nations defeat by Scotland at the weekend and faces a disciplinary hearing on Tuesday.
The flanker appeared to make contact with Scotland hooker Ewan Ashman’s eyes in a maul just before Scotland’s sixth try in the 59th minute of their 50-40 home victory at Murrayfield on Saturday.
It was not seen by any of the match officials at the time, but footage of the incident provoked plenty of post-match debate, and the 22-year-old has since been cited for an act of “foul play”.
“A procedure should be initiated to deal with this matter, but it should have been reviewed during the match, as the actions are quite clear,” former referee Nigel Owens told the BBC. “Frankly, it doesn’t bode well. From what we can see in this footage, this player [Jegou] is going to be in trouble.”
World Rugby regulations say “intentional contact with an eye or eyes” is punishable by a suspension of anything from 12 weeks to four years.
South African lock Eben Etzebeth was suspended for 12 weeks when he was found guilty of eye-gouging during the Springboks’ match against Wales last November, the gesture having been judged intentional but with mitigating circumstances.
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