France flanker Axelle Berthoumieu admitted to biting Ireland’s Aoife Wafer in their Women’s Rugby World Cup quarterfinal but appealed her 12-match suspension on Monday.
France captain Manaé Feleu was also appealing a three-game suspension which also threatens to rule her out of the World Cup semifinal against England and the final or bronze final.
Berthoumieu’s admission occurred in a foul play review hearing. The panel said she accepted her bite was worthy of a red card and the off-field citing was warranted.
No action was taken against her on the field at the time.
Wafer accused Berthoumieu of biting her arm during France’s 18-13 win on Sunday in Exeter. The referee referred it to the Television Match Official to review footage.
World Rugby said in a statement: “In reviewing the matter live, the TMO was unable to determine clear and obvious foul play and did not have the benefit of additional evidential submissions to corroborate.”
Berthomieu was charged after the match by the citing commissioner.
For a sanction, the panel started the suspension at 18 games and deducted six.
“Although the player acknowledged the foul play and was remorseful, full mitigation was not given due to the seriousness of the player’s actions, and that the player had the opportunity not to continue with the action,” World Rugby said.
Berthomieu appealed against the length of the 12-game suspension, which would rule her out of the rest of the World Cup and prevent her from playing to March 1.
Her appeal will be heard on Tuesday.
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The 25-year-old Berthomieu has 27 caps since her 2019 debut, including all four of France’s matches at this World Cup, her first.
Feleu, leading Les Bleues at her second World Cup, was cited for a dangerous tackle that wasn’t sanctioned on the field. At her hearing, she accepted there was foul play but didn’t believe it was worth a citing.
But the panel found her guilty of head-on-head contact at speed with no mitigation.
Her appeal will also be heard on Tuesday against a suspension that threatens to be a major blow to France’s title hopes.
