France player who butted Scotland scrum-half Ben White summoned to hearing

Peato Mauvaka, the France player who appeared to head-butt Scotland’s Ben White during the Six Nations match in Paris on Saturday night, has been summoned to appear before an independent disciplinary hearing.

Mauvaka was shown a yellow card for the incident in the first half but has now been cited for an act of foul play contrary to Law 9.12 which states that “a player must not…. strike with any part of the arm, shoulder, head or knee(s)”.

White had been pushed to the ground and was lying prone when Mauvaka appeared to launch himself at the Scotland scrum-half after play had stopped.

Ben White, grounded, holds his face after France's Peato Mauvaka had launched himself at the Scotland scrum-half. | Getty Images

The incident was replayed on the big screen at the Stade de France and match referee Matthew Carley consulted with the television match official, Marius van der Westhuizen. They took the decision to send the France hooker to the sin-bin rather than send him off. The incident was reviewed by the foul play review officer, Ian Tempest, in the so-called ‘bunker’ who found that the contact had not been dangerous and the card remained at yellow, much to the annoyance of Scotland coach Gregor Townsend.

“The decision not to raise it to a red card was because there was not excessive force,” said Townsend after the match. “I’m not sure that is the criterion for a non-tackle incident. That was clearly not a tackle incident. It was after the whistle. So if there was head contact and that was intentional, it shouldn’t really have anything to do with the force.”

France captain Gregory Alldritt looks on as referee Matthew Carley shows a yellow card to Peato Mauvaka ( out of picture). | Getty Images

Mauvaka, who was able to return to the match after 10 minutes in the sin-bin and help France win 35-16 and clinch the Six Nations title, will attend the disciplinary hearing via video conference on Thursday morning. The independent committee will be chaired by Jennifer Donovan of Ireland.