The French team were criticised for their dirty play in last Saturday's 20-20 draw with New Zealand by the tourists' coach, John Mitchell, yesterday.
Mitchell claimed in London's Evening Standard there were three particularly nasty incidents which went unpunished both by the referee Scott Young and the citing commissioner.
"I don't think gouging, testicle-grabbing and stamping have any place in the game," he said. Mitchell, who was critical of the refereeing after the French match in which three All Blacks were sin-binned in the first-half, said while he was normally against citing opposing players these incidents had been "out of order."
Borders prop Paul Thompson, meanwhile, has been declared ineligible to play for Scotland, the Scottish Rugby Union (SRU) said yesterday. Thompson, who has a Scottish grandfather, was included in a New Zealand squad for a match against the Australian Barbarians three years ago, meaning he cannot represent another country under rugby's "one union only" rule.
Former South Africa lock forward Mark Andrews has signed for English Premiership side Newcastle. Andrews, who represented the Springboks 77 times and played in two World Cups, retired from international rugby in October. He will join Newcastle in January under a deal that will see him play for the club until the end of the 2003-04 season.
The match between Ulster and Connacht due to have been played at Dungannon today has been cancelled. Connacht are unable to field a team, as eight of their players are involved with the Irish Development Squad.
The cancellation is a huge disappointment to the Ulster team and coach Alan Solomons, and a serious disruption to their preparation for their forthcoming Celtic League quarter-final game against Glasgow.
