French conspiracy theories about Rugby World Cup's handling of disciplinary matters looked in need of reassessment yesterday after their prop Franck Tournaire was cleared of biting during last weekend's semi-final against New Zealand at Twickenham.
Tournaire is now free to play in Saturday's final against Australia after convincing a disciplinary panel he was not guilty of using his teeth to mix himself a grisly aperitif courtesy of the All Black captain Taine Randell.
Having viewed what it described as "good video footage" and heard evidence from both Tournaire and the French management, the committee issued a statement saying it was "not satisfied on a balance of probabilities" that an offence had been committed.
It is great news for France, who have already had their loose-head prop Christian Califano suspended for 50 days for head-butting a Fijian opponent and only recently welcomed back another Toulouse player, the lock Fabien Pelous, following a 14-day ban for illegal raking in the same game.
Tournaire's cause, however, was undoubtedly helped by the New Zealand camp's decision not to make a formal complaint despite a string of grievances.
Further allegations of dirty play surfaced yesterday with the New Zealand team doctor John Mayhew suggesting some All Black players had complained about being eye-gouged, head-butted and having their testicles grabbed.
"I believe after talking to the players there were a number of incidents which fortunately didn't have any physical repercussions afterwards," said Mayhew.
"Josh Kronfeld was eye-gouged several times. Anton Oliver was head-butted. On top of that there were unsavoury acts which went on and which really had no place in rugby."
Kronfeld has confirmed he was gouged but, in the case of Tournaire, neither Randell nor Byron Kelleher, who was also thought to have been bitten, presented any physical evidence of a bite.
The disciplinary committee also noted Randell had made no attempt to draw referee Jim Fleming's attention to the incident.
Even so, John Hart, the All Blacks coach, indicated he only stayed silent after the match because he did not want to detract from France's fine victory. Tournaire, who could have received a ban of at least a year, might consider sending a case of claret to the New Zealand dressingroom tonight by way of a thank you.
The Australian coach, Rod Macqueen, meanwhile, is backing referee Andre Watson to ensure the final clean. "I'd expect action on the field on the day, not afterwards," said Macqueen. "It's too late with players being cited afterwards, because those are intimidatory tactics."
Meanwhile, French forwards Christophe Juillet (knee) and Marc Lievremont (hamstring) are expected to be fit to play in the final.
