Ireland player alleges being bitten by Frenchwoman in Rugby World Cup quarterfinal

EXETER, England (AP-CP) — An independent Foul Play Review Committee will look into allegations that an Irish player was bitten during Sunday’s loss to France in the Women’s Rugby World Cup quarterfinal.

According to Ireland captain Sam Monaghan, Irish teammate Aoife Wafer claimed she was bitten by opposite flanker Axelle Berthoumieu at Sandy Park.

Video of the incident by broadcaster BBC showed Berthoumieu on the bottom of a ruck with her mouth apparently on the arm of Wafer. Wafer then seemed to show her arm to referee Aimee Barrett-Theron.

“I spoke to the referee,” Monaghan said. “Aoife told me, I didn’t see it myself, but I spoke to the referee and asked them.”

Berthoumieu was subsequently cited for an action contrary to Law 9.12 (biting), while French lock Manae Felu was cited for an action contrary to Law 9.13 (dangerous tackling).

The citing complaints were received from the independent citing commissioner Jeff Mark of Wales.

Ireland coach Scott Bemand was asked about the biting incident after his side lost 18-13.

“I think in terms of process, your on-pitch leadership would mention to the referee,” Bemand said. “Then it’s up to the team officials to deal with it, should they see fit at that point.

“At the moment, I haven’t seen anything. If there are bits to pursue, we could potentially be disappointed but we’ve followed the process as best we can from our perspective in terms of the on-pitch conversations.”

Both players will have their cases considered Monday by an Independent Foul Play Review Committee (FPRC) chaired by Brenda Heather-Latu (Samoa) and including David Croft (Australia) and Valeriu Toma (Romania).

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AP rugby: https://apnews.com/hub/rugby