Nigel Owens reveals why Peato Mauvaka was not red-carded after the France hooker ‘clearly launched’ himself at Ben White
Nigel Owens reviews Peato Mauvaka's headbutt and offers a reason why he was not red carded.
Former international referee Nigel Owens has attempted to explain why France hooker Peato Mauvaka was not red-carded against Scotland.
The 28-year-old ‘clearly launched’ himself at Scotland scrum-half Ben White according to Owens but the former match official believes that a lack of angles from the host broadcasters was why the yellow card was not upgraded.
The French broadcasters are often accused of not providing incriminating replays and that’s the accusation they face again with this incident with Owens believing it to be the case.
Mauvaka was yellow-carded by Matthew Carley for the off-the-ball incident with the referee sending the it to be reviewed by the Foul Play Review Officer (FPRO).
Peato Mauvaka’s red card
The FPRO deemed that the incident did not warrant a red card, a decision that the citing commissioner disagreed with as Mauavaka will face a disciplinary panel for contravening law 9.12 (a) which reads: “A player must not…. strike with any part of the arm, shoulder, head or knee(s).
Owens has now offered his reaction to the incident in the Six Nations and weighed in on why he believes it did not result in a red card during the match.
“A lot of you have been talking about the Peato Mauvaka yellow card which was reviewed and remained at a yellow,” the Welshman said on World Rugby’s Whistle Watch.
“So what we have here is a player clearly launching himself at an opponent who is on the ground.
🟥 France star cited after controversially escaping red card for ‘flying headbutt’ in Six Nations win
“Now the key thing here is footage to see if there is direct contact with the neck or the head area and if there was so, then I’m pretty sure there would be no doubt that it would be a red card.
“But because of the footage available to everybody on the day, it was not possible to make that judgement call.
“I know, some of you will be asking, ‘Why was it not the red card relevant to where the contact is?’ Because it seems to the officials of the day that the contact was with the shoulder.
Mauvaka citing
Low-end: 6 weeks
Mid-range: 10 weeks
Top-end: 16+ weeksWill be interesting to see how it’s viewed. pic.twitter.com/Z21U7wsO3b
— Brett Igoe (@brettruganalyst) March 19, 2025
“Now imagine if there was a punch to the shoulder then would that mean because it’s to the shoulder that is not the red card? Maybe so. It all comes down to your interpretation of the referee on the day. If they believe it warrants a red card.”
Full red card
The Welshman added that he believes that had the officials had evidence of foul play, Mauvaka would not have received a 20-minute red card, instead, it would have been a full red card.
“The other thing to remember as well, is if the officials felt that there was direct head contact to the head or shoulder in a head-butting action; then it would have been a straight red card because it is an act of foul play, so it wouldn’t be a 20-minute red card as we’ve seen being trialled in this year’s Six Nations,” he said.
“We will respect the process and we will wait to see what happens.”
If found guilty, Mauvaka could face the following the bans: Low-end: 6 weeks/matches, Mid-range: 10 weeks/matches, Top-end: 16+ weeks/matches, Max: 104 weeks/matches.
However, that could be reduced by a maximum of 50%.
