French rugby player banned for eye gouging

Paris - Brive flyhalf Matthieu Ugalde on Thursday received a 14-week ban for eye-gouging.

Ugalde, who has the right to appeal, will be free to play again on January 2, 2017, according to the disciplinary committee of the Ligue nationale de rugby (LNR), the body governing professional rugby in France.

The incident came in Brive's 36-22 defeat by Grenoble on September 11.

The match featured an ugly, all-in punch-up for which three players were shown red cards with seven also summoned before the LNR's disciplinary committee.

Grenoble's Nigel Hunt, Henry Vanderglas, Sona Taumalolo and Charl McLeod were all suspended for between one and three weeks along with Brive's Damien Jourdain, Benjamin Lapeyre and Arnaud Mignardi.

Grenoble and Brive were both fined €20 000 each following the brawl.

Also appearing before the disciplinary committee, Bayonne prop Jerome Schuster was suspended for five weeks until October 8 for a dangerous tackle playing against Pau.

Stade Francais flyhalf Jules Plisson was banned for three weeks for a shoulder charge on Castres' Samoan-born winger David Smith.