'Ruthless violence': Chaos in French rugby after two players jailed in Argentina
Nothing is going well in French rugby. The day after Melvyn Jaminet's racist outburst on Instagram, two French rugby players (right and left in the photo) were arrested in Argentina.
Accused of rape, Oscar Jegou and Hugo Auradou (in the photo) were taken into police custody after a young woman accused them of having abused and "savagely beaten" her in their hotel in Mendoza, after the meeting between France and Argentina, on the night of July 6 to 7, according to AFP.
The two players mentioned played their first match with the French team: Hugo Auradou, 20, is a lock in Pau, while Oscar Jegou, 21, is a back rower in La Rochelle.
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The two French players, according to French news outlet 'La Dépêche du Midi', had been drinking at a bar that night. According to a waitress at the establishment, Oscar Jegou came out with a bloody mouth after drinking from a broken glass – the waitress stated the men were heavily intoxicated.
Florian Grill (pictured), the president of the French Rugby Federation, said: "If the allegations are true, they are incredibly serious. The first thing is to think of the young girl. This goes against everything that rugby is,"L'Équipe reported.
"They have a rather different version. We dug deeper with a lawyer and finally came up with information which questions the version that was widely covered in the Argentine media. We are not judges, we are not investigators, but we think that the Argentine justice system still needs to look at the file very, very quickly," he continued.
The plaintiff's lawyer, Natacha Romano, explains: "Although the most serious of these crimes is sexual violence, the violence with which these two men acted was merciless."
Under Argentine law, if the facts are proven, this could be punishable by 20 years in prison. "There are two things: either they are guilty and there are no worries, we accept the sanctions. Or it is not the case and, in this case, even five days is too much! We respect Argentine justice, but things must move quickly," reaffirmed Grill.
"There are many inconsistencies in this case which we believe should be reviewed by the courts," explained Florian Grill. "We went to see, today (Wednesday), in Mendoza, a right-hand man of the prosecutor and the person in charge of the case: the lawyer was able to present several points which question the initial declaration and which will call into question several statements," he continues.
It's a very dark time for French rugby, with two scandals in as many days, it's fast become a tour to forget...
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