IRELAND CAPTAIN SAM Monaghan says she asked the referee to review an alleged bite on back row Aoife Wafer during their 18-13 World Cup quarter-final defeat to France.
Wafer seemingly claimed to be bitten by France’s Axelle Berthoumieu early in the second half, pointing to her arm as she got back to her feet after competing for the ball at a breakdown.
Video footage that is circulating on social media suggests there was a case for the match officials to examine the incident, but there was no formal review during Ireland’s defeat.
“I spoke to the referee, I didn’t see it,” said Monaghan post-match.
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“I spoke to the referee and asked could they have a look at it. It was through TMO.”
Ireland head coach Scott Bemand initially said he didn’t want to “get drawn into” discussion of the alleged bite, but when asked a second time, he said Ireland may go through the post-match disciplinary process of flagging the incident.
“We’ve literally just stepped off the pitch,” he said. “If there’s any bits to pick up, we’ll pick them up in the next hour.
“I think in terms of process, your on-pitch leadership would mention to the referee. Then it’s up to the team officials to deal with it, should they see fit at that point.
“At the moment, I haven’t seen anything. I’ve literally just stepped in here.
“If there are bits to pursue, we could potentially be disappointed but we’ve followed the process as best we can from our perspective in terms of the on-pitch conversations.”
France co-coach Gaëlle Mignot was also asked about the alleged bite in her post-match press conference, but said she hadn’t seen footage of the incident.
“We have not seen the images,” said Mignot.
“We have been celebrating in the changing rooms. We will see what happens.”
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'I spoke to the referee' - Ireland skipper on alleged bite on Wafer
IRELAND CAPTAIN SAM Monaghan says she asked the referee to review an alleged bite on back row Aoife Wafer during their 18-13 World Cup quarter-final defeat to France.
Wafer seemingly claimed to be bitten by France’s Axelle Berthoumieu early in the second half, pointing to her arm as she got back to her feet after competing for the ball at a breakdown.
Video footage that is circulating on social media suggests there was a case for the match officials to examine the incident, but there was no formal review during Ireland’s defeat.
“I spoke to the referee, I didn’t see it,” said Monaghan post-match.
“I spoke to the referee and asked could they have a look at it. It was through TMO.”
Ireland head coach Scott Bemand initially said he didn’t want to “get drawn into” discussion of the alleged bite, but when asked a second time, he said Ireland may go through the post-match disciplinary process of flagging the incident.
“We’ve literally just stepped off the pitch,” he said. “If there’s any bits to pick up, we’ll pick them up in the next hour.
“I think in terms of process, your on-pitch leadership would mention to the referee. Then it’s up to the team officials to deal with it, should they see fit at that point.
“At the moment, I haven’t seen anything. I’ve literally just stepped in here.
“If there are bits to pursue, we could potentially be disappointed but we’ve followed the process as best we can from our perspective in terms of the on-pitch conversations.”
France co-coach Gaëlle Mignot was also asked about the alleged bite in her post-match press conference, but said she hadn’t seen footage of the incident.
“We have not seen the images,” said Mignot.
“We have been celebrating in the changing rooms. We will see what happens.”
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