France star Oscar Jegou has been handed a ban after gouging the eye of Scotland hooker Ewan Ashman in Saturday's Six Nations encounter.
The incident occurred during Les Bleus' 50-40 defeat to Scotland at Murrayfield last weekend, and Jegou will not be available for France’s clash this weekend with England.
Jegou has been handed a four-week ban which will keep him out of action for both country and club side, La Rochelle, after video footage from the weekend's match showed the France international sticking his finger into the face of Ashman, with an investigation deemed necessary due to the prolonged contact.
World Cup winner Bryan Habana has now had his say on the incident as he took to social media angry at the length of the ban for Jegou.
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Habana was furious that the France star only received a four-week ban while his compatriot Eben Etzebeth received a 12-week ban for what the former South African viewed as a similar incident.
On X, formerly known as Twitter, Habana said: “The inconsistency is just farcical!!!”
This post was accompanied by a picture with a justification for each ban, with the former South African international seeing no difference in the two eye gouges and so expected both players to get the same ban.
Since his post there has been some backlash from others within the world of rugby, as French journalist Gauthier Baudin said: “Total inconsistency, I agree, Etzebeth should have taken more.”
While Philippe Lafon, a French reporter, said: “When you give only 12 weeks to Etzebeth, you can’t expect more for Jegou.
“Rather, it’s pretty consistent! Both should have had more. And Etzebeth more than Jegou Imo. But Jegou’s fault should have been seen and judged on the pitch. Big impact on the French bonus & the 6N result.”
Habana responded to Lafon, defending his stance as he said: “Your argument has zero substance. The fact that Jegou’s blatant discretion wasn’t picked up on the field is ridiculous. Then the fact that his entry point was only 6 weeks is an absolute joke!!”
While this debate is not going to be settled anytime soon, all that is for certain is that Jegou will now serve a four-week ban for the incident and will miss an important Six Nations clash for France against England along with some Top 14 and Challenge Cup fixtures for La Rochelle.
Topics: Rugby, Rugby Union
Brendan McGilligan