The second-row Pascal Papé may miss the rest of France’s Six Nations campaign after being cited for allegedly kneeing the Ireland No8, Jamie Heaslip, in the back and causing an injury that will rule the Lion out of the key match against England at the Aviva Stadium on 1 March.
Papé was sent to the sin-bin in Saturday’s match by the referee, Wayne Barnes, but the citing commissioner Stefano Marrama decided the act, which occurred at a breakdown, merited a red card. The lock, who captained France in last year’s Six Nations, will face a disciplinary panel this week.
Heaslip tried to play on but lasted only eight minutes before having to leave the field in discomfort. Scans on Monday showed he had three fractured vertebrae and he is expected to be out of action for a month. Ireland’s final game is against Scotland in just under five weeks’ time. “Although this injury causes a good deal of discomfort it does not impact on the structural integrity of the spine and, once healed, should pose no long-term issues,” said the Irish Rugby Football Union in a statement.
Philippe Saint-André believed a yellow card was the right colour. “When you watch the incident, I do not think you can say it was deliberate,” the France head coach said before adding: “It was not something I expected from such an experienced player.”
The Scotland fly-half Finn Russell faces missing the next round at least after being cited for a dangerous tackle on Wales’ Dan Biggar at Murrayfield on Sunday. As in Papé’s case, the referee saw the offence and, after reviewing it on the big screen, decided it was worth a yellow card.
The Wales head coach, Warren Gatland, argued Russell should have been sent off and the Irish citing commissioner Eugene Ryan agreed, charged the player with making a dangerous tackle, although Russell pulled out of the challenge after realising Biggar was going to beat him to a high ball and turned his back.
Russell faces a three-week ban, which would rule him out of Scotland’s next match, at home to Italy, which after the opening two rounds has the feel of a wooden spoon decider, but if he pleaded not guilty and lost the case he would be in danger of missing the final two matches against England and Ireland.
The Scotland prop Jon Welsh, who scored their second try against Wales, will not play again in this year’s tournament after suffering a fractured hand that requires surgery. The Leicester fly-half Owen Williams will not play again until the end of the year following an operation on damaged knee ligaments.
