Peato Mauvaka cops ban for headbutt on Scotland star

France hooker Peato Mauvaka has been handed a three-week ban for his controversial headbutt on Scotland scrum-half Ben White’s in Les Bleus’ Guinness Six Nations-clinching victory on Saturday.

The 28-year-old was shown a yellow card by referee Matthew Carley after 20 minutes at the Stade de France in the final match of the Championship, with the off-the-ball incident being referred to Ian Tempest in the bunker.

The infringement remained a yellow card, however, it’s a decision that has caused uproar in the wake of the result.

While 20-minute red cards were in force over the Six Nations for technical offences, this would have warranted a permanent red as it would have been deemed a deliberate and dangerous act of foul play, meaning France would have been down to 14 players for the majority of the match.

Speaking after his side’s defeat, Scotland captain Rory Darge said that he thought Mauvaka deserved a red card, saying: “I thought it should have been a red card. It looked like, to me, an intentional headbutt, but I’ve not watched it back, so I don’t know.”

The flanker did add that the decision was “definitely not the reason” the visitors lost the match.

Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend also questioned the decision, specifically how the decision was reached. “The decision not to raise it to a red card was because there was not excessive force,” he said.

“I’m not sure that’s really the criteria for a non-tackle incident. It clearly was not a tackle, it was after the whistle, there was head contact, that was the intention, so it shouldn’t have anything to do with force.”

The hooker will Toulouse’s upcoming games against Bordeaux and Pau in the Top 14 and Sale Sharks in the Champions Cup.