France star cited after controversially escaping red card for ‘flying headbutt’ in Six Nations win
Peato Mauvaka after being sin-binned for incident with Scotland scrum-half Ben White.
France hooker Peato Mauvaka will face a disciplinary panel on Thursday after being cited following his yellow card against Scotland on Saturday.
The front-rower was sin-binned for connecting with the head of opposition scrum-half Ben White, with it going to the bunker for a review.
It remained a yellow card, however, as it was deemed to be a low degree of danger and Mauvaka was able to return to the field.
Les Bleus would end up claiming a 35-16 triumph over the Scots to move above England and Ireland in the table and seal the Six Nations title.
Mauvaka cited
“France No2 Peato Mauvaka will attend an independent disciplinary hearing after he was cited for an act of foul play contrary to law 9.12 (A player must not…. strike with any part of the arm, shoulder, head or knee(s)) in the Guinness Six Nations match between France and Scotland on Saturday, March 15,” a statement read.
“The player will attend the hearing via video conference before an independent disciplinary committee consisting of Jennifer Donovan (chair, Ireland), with the other two disciplinary committee members to be confirmed in due course. The hearing will take place on Thursday, March 20, at 10am (GMT).”
The decision not to send Mauvaka off caused uproar as many felt it was not a tackle situation and therefore thought the officials followed the wrong process.
“I’m amazed that hasn’t been upgraded [to a red],” ex-Scotland international Rory Lawson said.
“He is incredibly fortunate that his headbutting isn’t all that accurate because he lost his head, saw the red mist and he is fortunate to get away with that and be allowed back on the field.”
Former England fly-half Andy Goode agreed with Lawson and was surprised that Mauvaka did not receive a red card for the incident.
Goode’s view
“That should be a red for Mauvaka,” Goode wrote on X, formerly Twitter
He later added: “So a flying head into the face of a player lying prone on the floor is just a yellow card?! Mauvaka should have seen a full red card for that, not even a 20 minute one. The bunker system has had a shocker.”
Mauvaka returned to the field with France 13-10 in front in the Six Nations title decider, but the hosts would go on to dominate the second period.
After getting back up to 15 men, Les Bleus pulled away from the visitors and duly recorded a comfortable win to claim top spot and the silverware.
A potential suspension would obviously not affect the national team but he could miss the next few Toulouse matches with key games coming up in both the Top 14 and Investec Champions Cup.
