France coach Fabien Galthie defends Oscar Jegou and Hugo Auradou Six Nations selection after rape case dismissal
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French rugby players Hugo Auradou (left) and Oscar Jegou leaing the house in which they served house arrest in Mendoza, Argentina, on Aug 12, 2024.
PHOTO: AFP
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ROME – Coach Fabien Galthie said on Jan 21 that he and his coaching team take “complete responsibility” for including two players in France’s Six Nations squad who were investigated for rape in Argentina before the case was dismissed.
In December, the case against 21-year-olds Oscar Jegou and Hugo Auradou was dropped after the two forwards had faced the accusations in July.
Flanker Jegou and lock Auradou insisted they had consensual sex with a 39-year-old woman after a night of drinking following their Test debuts for the French team in Mendoza, but their accuser maintains she was the victim of a vicious assault.
The complainant’s lawyer has appealed the case’s dismissal, with a hearing set for Feb 10 and 11, days after France play England on Feb 8 in the second round of the Six Nations.
Galthie has named both players in his set-up for the tournament, which begins with the French hosting Wales on Jan 31.
“I understand and I hear the controversy that it could provoke, but we take complete responsibility for our decisions,” Galthie said at the Six Nations launch in Rome.
“There were necessary and obvious conditions around picking them.”
Following the dismissal of the case by the Argentina court in December, the French Rugby Federation said Jegou and Auradou were available for selection by Galthie on the basis of their performances for their clubs.
Jegou returned to the field in November with La Rochelle and Auradou was back with Pau in October.
“We only take into account performance,” Galthie said.
“We have a competent coaching staff, and our decisions, our ranking system by position, they are decisions that are never easy.
“It’s sometimes painful, in the end it needs to be simple and clear.
“They are players who have worked a lot to come through this difficult period, which is not over.”
Galthie’s 2022 Grand Slam winners will be hoping to dethrone Ireland, who are bidding to become the first side to win the title three years in a row since the tournament was expanded to six teams in 2000.
The Irish are in an unusual position, with Simon Easterby in caretaker charge while coach Andy Farrell is seconded to the British and Irish Lions for their tour of Australia later in 2025.
Easterby said the challenge for his team, second in the global rankings, is to “stay ahead of the pack”, a message amplified by skipper Caelan Doris.
“If we don’t keep improving, then someone else will take the reins,” said Doris.
“We’ve got England at home first up (on Feb 1) and it’s hard to look beyond that for now.” AFP
