Oscar Jégou could face the same fate as Eben Etzebeth after ugly incident

France back-row forward Oscar Jégou will appear on Tuesday, March 10, before an independent disciplinary commission after being cited for an act of unfair play that many interpreted as a gouge, during Saturday’s helter-skelter match between Scotland and France in the Six Nations.

According to the citation report, the 22-year-old has been cited for an act of “foul play” contrary to Rule 9.12 of World Rugby, which prohibits any form of physical or verbal abuse: “a player must not physically or verbally assault anyone. Physical aggression includes in particular, but not exclusively, biting, punching, making contact with the eye, the eyes or the eye area, striking with any part of the arm, the shoulder, the head or the knees, trampling, crouching or kicking.”

During a Scotland maul close to the French try line, Jégou placed his right hand on the face of the Scotland’s replacement hooker, Ewan Ashman. The close-up images seem to show his fingers coming into contact with the eye area, an action prohibited and widely condemned as one of the lowest acts on a rugby field.

This incident, which occurred before the try scored by Darcy Graham in the 59th minute, was not examined by the referee Angus Gardner nor mentioned in the post-match press conference.

The player’s case will be heard by video conference by an independent disciplinary commission composed of Simon Thomas (chairman), Christopher Morgan and John Langford. This hearing is scheduled for Tuesday, March 10, 2026, at 9:30am. (GMT).

The citation exposes the player to the scale of sanctions provided for contact with the eyes, ranging, in the case of an intentional gesture, from a 12 to 208-week ban, depending on the severity, and, in the case of an unintentional act of foul play, from 6 to 208 weeks, there are again divided into three levels of danger.

Eben Etzebeth was suspended for 12 weeks when he was found guilty of eye gouging during the Springboks’ match against Wales last November, the gesture having been judged intentional, but with mitigating circumstances.