France forward Oscar Jegou will miss Saturday’s Six Nations clash with England after he was given a four-week suspension for eye-gouging.
Jegou, 22, was found guilty of reckless contact with the eye area during last Saturday’s game against Scotland, which his side lost 50-40.
The incident, involving Scotland hooker Ewan Ashman, was not spotted by match officials during the game but an independent disciplinary committee has since ruled he should have been shown a red card.
The Frenchman, who retains the right to appeal, has now been given a four-week suspension and will miss the potential title decider with England in Paris.
The committee amended the charge from intentional eye contact to reckless contact with the eyes, and upheld the citing.
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Sky Sports reporter James Cole takes you through ALL the permutations as we head into the final and decisive weekend of the Six Nations.
Suspension reduced
The offence carries a low-end entry point of six weeks under World Rugby sanction guidelines, but Jegou’s suspension was reduced to four weeks due to mitigating circumstances, including his disciplinary record and conduct.
The committee added that no injury was caused and there were no aggravating factors.
Ahead of Saturday’s crunch game, France and Scotland are level on 16 points at the top of the Six Nations standings.
Ireland, who host Scotland on the same day, sit two points behind them.
With Jegou ruled out, France coach Fabien Galthie has given a first cap to Temo Matiu and will move Charles Ollivon to number eight.
Galthie previously confirmed that Anthony Jelonch will miss the game at the Stade de France after suffering from a concussion against Scotland.
England team to face France
Starting XV: 15. Elliot Daly (Saracens, 75 caps), 14. Tom Roebuck (Sale Sharks, 11 caps), 13. Tommy Freeman (Northampton Saints, 26 caps), 12. Seb Atkinson (Gloucester Rugby, 3 caps), 11. Cadan Murley (Harlequins, 5 caps), 10. Fin Smith (Northampton Saints, 15 caps), 9. Ben Spencer (Bath Rugby, 17 caps), 1. Ellis Genge (Bristol Bears, 79 caps) – vice-captain, 2. Jamie George (Saracens, 109 caps) – vice-captain, 3. Joe Heyes (Leicester Tigers, 21 caps), 4. Maro Itoje (Saracens, 101 caps) – captain, 5. Alex Coles (Northampton Saints, 18 caps), 6. Ollie Chessum (Leicester Tigers, 34 caps), 7. Guy Pepper (Bath Rugby, 11 caps), 8. Ben Earl (Saracens, 50 caps)
Replacements: 16. Luke Cowan-Dickie (Sale Sharks, 57 caps), 17. Bevan Rodd (Sale Sharks, 14 caps), 18. Trevor Davison (Northampton Saints, 7 caps), 19. Chandler Cunningham-South (Harlequins, 21 caps), 20. Sam Underhill (Bath Rugby, 49 caps), 21. Henry Pollock (Northampton Saints, 9 caps), 22. Jack van Poortvliet (Leicester Tigers, 23 caps), 23. Marcus Smith (Harlequins, 49 caps)
France team to face England
Starting XV: 15-Thomas Ramos, 14-Theo Attissogbe, 13-Pierre-Louis Barassi, 12-Yoram Moefana, 11-Louis Bielle-Biarrey, 10-Matthieu Jalibert, 9-Antoine Dupont (captain), 8-Charles Ollivon, 7-Temo Matiu, 6-François Cros, 5-Emmanuel Meafou, 4-Thibaud Flament, 3-Dorian Aldegheri, 2-Julien Marchand, 1-Jean-Baptiste Gros
Replacements: 16-Peato Mauvaka, 17-Rodrigue Neti, 18-Demba Bamba, 19-Hugo Auradou, 20-Mickael Guillard, 21-Joshua Brennan, 22-Baptiste Serin, 23-Emilien Gailleton
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