An ugly incident during Scotland’s Six Nations win over France has sparked fury
The ugly incident has sparked fury amongst fans(Image: BBC)
There have been widespread calls for Six Nations bosses to act after France back rower Oscar Jegou was caught on camera seemingly gouging Scotland prop Ewan Ashman during Saturday’s clash at Murrayfield.
A remarkable match saw Gregor Townsend’s side dominate the title favourites in Edinburgh, leading 47-14 at one point before a late flurry of French tries made the scoreline a more respectable 50-40. But while it was a famous win for the Scots, it is an unsavoury act that has got fans talking in the aftermath.
Moments before Darcy Graham crossed for his second try just ahead of the hour mark, Ashman had been carrying the ball at the back of a Scottish maul, with flailing French arms trying to steal it from his grasp.
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However, replays shown shortly after Graham’s try showed Jegou’s fingers making prolonged contact with Ashman’s eyes, with the French flanker seemingly looking at where he had placed his hand.
The incident immediately sparked fury amongst fans, while referee Angus Gardner was approached by Scottish players after the replays were shown. However, no action was taken by the match official, nor was it flagged to him by the TMO.
With fans describing Jegou’s actions as “terrible” and “ugly”, the France international is set to be cited and faces a lengthy ban, with Springbok star Eben Etzebeth banned for 12 weeks after committing an eye gouge on Wales’ Alex Mann in the autumn.
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But the fact that it wasn’t picked up during the match – with France securing a crucial losing bonus point in the final 20 minutes – has left fans, pundits and former Test referee Nigel Owens stunned, with the legendary Welshman questioning why the incident was not raised by the TMO at any point.
“It definitely should have been looked at,” he said on the BBC’s coverage at the full-time whistle. “It doesn’t look good, to be honest.
“Looking at that footage, that player is going to be in a bit of trouble. There will be a process in place now to deal with that, but it should have been looked at it in the game, because it is quite clear what the actions were.
“It was a great game of rugby and it didn’t really matter in the context of the game, but on another day, in games where the score is tight, things like this are the ones where you really want the TMO to come in, for the clear and obvious. Even if they look at it and then decide.”
Asked why the TMO might not have flagged the incident, Owens added: “I don’t understand. The TMO would have all this footage, probably more than what we are seeing here. When you look at that, you’ve got to bring it to the referee’s attention.
“A Scottish player went over and did say to the referee that something had happened here and they needed to have a look at that. I think the referee said there was a process in place and they would look at it after in the citing process.
“But I think when you have clear footage like that, that’s what you want the TMO to come in for. For the clear and obvious, you want to pick those things up. It’s disappointing that it wasn’t picked up.
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“How it would have been dealt with, would they have seen enough evidence to deal with it with a red card on the field? Who knows, but it certainly should have been looked at, for sure. It doesn’t look good to be honest.”
Former Scotland international John Barclay also admitted that the incident “doesn’t look good,” as he said: “I think the thing that might stand against Jegou there is, you can see on the footage, he can clearly see.
“It’s not like his head is buried inside the maul, he can clearly see where his hand is and where Ashman’s head is, and where the ball is.
“It doesn’t look good. If we’re seeing that, why is that not being looked at? Does it impact the championship? We don’t know, but hopefully it doesn’t.”
Fellow BBC pundit Martin Johnson added: “When I look at it, I think he’s going for the ball, then you think his hand is there for quite a long time. I’d like to see it at full pace. It didn’t look great.”
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