For coach Fabien Galthié, Auradou and Jegou are “innocent” and therefore “selectable” with the French XV

Fabien Galthié has assured us: Oscar Jégou and Hugo Auradou are once again available to the Blues. MAXPPP – FRANK MULLER

Accused of rape in Argentina last summer, and having been dismissed in the first instance, the two players are once again available with the French team, according to Galthié, less than three weeks before the kick-off of the Six Nations Tournament. 

The coach of the XV of France Fabien Galthié considered Monday on RMC that Oscar Jegou and Hugo Auradou, accused of rape in Argentina and having been the subject of a dismissal in the first instance, “are innocent” and therefore“selectable” in view of the Six Nations Tournament.

“Today, there is a dismissal that was obvious and that is clear. So from the moment there is a dismissal, we consider that they are innocent”, declared the coach of the Blues, questioned on the subject while he was invited by the Super Moscato Show, a show hosted by the former rugby player Vincent Moscato.

“From the moment when, after a procedure, there is a dismissal that is rendered, after a coherent procedure, they are selectable”, added Galthié, who must announce Wednesday a first list of 42 players to play the Tournament.

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The complainant has appealed

The Argentine justice system dismissed the case on December 10, considering that the criminal offence had not been established, but the plaintiff has appealed. This will be examined on February 10 and 11 by the appeals chamber of Mendoza, a city in the northwest, where the two 21-year-old French internationals are accused of aggravated rape by a woman during a drunken evening, on the night of July 6 to 7 after a match between the French XV and Argentina.

What happened is not an epiphenomenon

“If their sporting performances allow it, they will potentially be selectable to play again for the French team”, the French Rugby Federation had indicated in a press release on the day the dismissal was rendered in December. The Six Nations Tournament begins on January 31 for the French XV, who will face Wales at the Stade de France.

“It was so difficult to get through this period in Argentina”, the coach stressed before indicating: “What happened is not an epiphenomenon, it is the result of an evolution, of a society, of an education, of team sport.”

Returning to France at the beginning of September, second row Hugo Auradou and flanker Oscar Jegou, who have returned to the pitches with their respective clubs Pau and La Rochelle, have always declared that sexual intercourse was consented.