France forward Oscar Jegou has been banned for four matches after “reckless contact with the eye(s)” of Scotland’s Ewan Ashman.
During a Scotland maul in the second half of France’s 50-40 defeat at Murrayfield, Jegou’s right hand could be seen to cling to Ashman’s face. However, referee Angus Gardner did not spot the infringement and it was not brought to his attention by TMO Brett Conan.
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La Rochelle flanker Jegou, 22, was cited for an act of foul play and his punishment means he will sit out France’s final Six Nations match at home to England on Saturday evening, with the French, Scots and Ireland bidding for the championship title. Ireland host Scotland earlier in the day.
Last Saturday’s incident involving Ashman occurred before France scored late tries to collect a crucial bonus point and was raised to the officials by Scotland players at the time.
Former referee Nigel Owens was part of the BBC’s commentary team at Murrayfield and said of the incident: “It definitely should have been looked at [by the TMO], it doesn’t look good to be honest.
“That player will be in a bit of trouble. It should have been looked at in the game because it was quite clear what the actions were.
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“It didn’t matter in the context of the game, but on another day if the score was tight, things like that are the ones you want the TMO to come in for – the clear and the obvious.
“The TMO would have all the footage. When you look at it, you’ve got to bring it to the referee’s attention.
“A Scottish player did go over to the referee and said, ‘look, something happened here, we need to have a look’ and the referee said there was a process in place.
“It’s disappointing that wasn’t picked up. Would they have seen enough evidence to deal with it and give a red card? Who knows. But it certainly should have been looked at, for sure.”
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Former Scotland captain John Barclay agreed, saying: “The thing that might stand against Jegou is you can clearly see where his hand is, he can see where Ewan Ashman’s head is and the ball is. If we’re seeing that, why is it not being looked at?
“Does it impact the championship? We don’t know, but we hope it doesn’t.”
Jegou will also miss two domestic games and La Rochelle’s Challenge Cup match at Newcastle on 4 April. He will be available again from mid-April.
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