This past weekend video clips were shared far and wide across social media, which seemed to show France women’s player Axelle Berthoumieu biting an opponent during Sunday’s Women’s World Cup quarter-final, and which has now led to an official citing.
In the shocking incident, Berthoumieu appears to lash out with a bite on the arm of Ireland’s Aoife Wafer, who immediately seemed to react to the act, and sought to bring it to the attention of the officials.
However, Wafer’s protests to South African referee Aimee Barrett-Theron went unheeded, and the TMO also did not intervene.
Yet Berthoumieu will now have the case reviewed by an independent Foul Play Review Committee on Monday, 15 September after World Rugby confirmed she had been “cited for an action contrary to Law 9.12 (biting)”.
If found guilty, a lengthy ban is almost certainly set to materialise.
YOU CAN SEE THE INCIDENT THAT LED TO THE BITING CITING BELOW
The disciplinary hearing will be chaired by Brenda Heather-Latu (Samoa), and joined by David Croft (Australia) and Valeriu Toma (Romania).
As part of the expedited off-field sanction process in operation for Women’s Rugby World Cup, the citing window is limited to 12 hours following the final whistle. The FPRC will ordinarily convene after each match day to review red card incidents and citings.
Any full disciplinary hearings required will typically be conducted by the Tuesday following the relevant match.
Read more about the expedited off-field sanction process here.
Visit World Rugby’s disciplinary hub here
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