FACING THE prospect of a lengthy ban for an alleged gouging offence, Stade Francais scrumhalf Julien Dupuy donned the sackcloth and ashes yesterday ahead of his disciplinary hearing.
The French international will go before the ERC tomorrow lunchtime charged with making contact with the eye/eye area of Ulster’s Stephen Ferris last Saturday. If found guilty, the former Leicester player can expect a sanction of at least three months.
Not only would that rule him out of the remaining Heineken Cup pool fixtures, the newly-installed French number nine would also miss the Six Nations campaign.
Indeed, given the IRB crackdown on gouging offences it is not inconceivable the player could receive a ban of six months or more.
Speaking in France yesterday, where gouging incidents are colloquially known as “the fork”, a contrite Dupuy admitted making contact with Ferris’s eyes but maintained he did not deliberately gouge the Ulster flanker. “I admit, I put my hand in his eyes,” Dupuy explained. “But this is not necessarily a fork, my hand is open.”
Television footage broadcast after Saturday’s match in Ravenhill clearly shows Dupuy grasping for Ferris’s face twice in quick succession and the player conceded replays did not make for pleasant viewing.
“Certainly, the images are not good for me,” he added, “but I really did not want to put fingers in his eyes . . . I am not a nasty player on the pitch.”
Having declined to admit his guilt to Ferris at the time – when, according to the Irish international, he denied any wrongdoing – the 25-year-old repented yesterday.
Not only did he wish to apologise to Ferris, but also his club and coaches for his “idiotic and stupid” actions. Any sanction would not only affect him, but would also “penalise the club, penalise the players, my coaches”.
Dupuy will be joined in Dublin tomorrow by his Stade team-mate David Attoub, who was also cited for an alleged gouge on Ferris in the same game and will have a separate hearing at ERC headquarters.
The fact two of their players are accused of such incidents in one match has not gone down well with Stade, who reserved the right to punish both regardless of the outcomes of their disciplinary hearings.
The Parisians said Dupuy and Attoub had “harmed the image of the club and (Stade Francais) would like to apologise to the Irish province of Ulster for which it has a deep respect”.
Both players also released statements through the club stressing their actions “were neither premeditated nor intentional”.
Irish international Tommy Bowe, meanwhile, has been cited for an alleged dangerous tackle against Viadana last Saturday.
The Opsreys back will face a disciplinary hearing, presumably ahead of this weekend’s return fixture, following an incident involving Kaine Robertson.
The citing was lodged by ERC-appointed citing commissioner, Scotland’s Iain Goodall, for a dangerous tackle (lifting a player from the ground and either dropping or driving that player’s head and/or upper body first into the ground whilst the player’s feet are off the ground) in contravention of Law 10.4 (i).
