Brive out-half Matthieu Ugalde has been handed a 14-week ban for this eye gouge during a Top 14 game.
Ugalde was caught on camera making contact with the eye area of Armand Batlle, just after the Grenoble player went over for a try.
Ugalde claimed that footage of the incident was misleading, saying: “It’s not a gouge. I had a closed fist.”
The Ligue Nationale de Rugby didn’t accept his protestations of innocence and have suspended him from playing until January 2017.
Many rugby fans felt that the player could have been hit with a much longer ban for what looked like a protracted incident.
Brive player Matthieu Ugalde the latest lucky winner in #rugby disciplinary lottery - just 14 weeks for appalling gouge on Grenoble rival.
— Chris Foy (@FoyChris) September 22, 2016
Matthieu Ugalde gets fourteen weeks for one of the worst eye gouges imaginable, only one week more than Chris Ashton. No consistency again.
— Kristian Ross (@Kristian7Ross) September 22, 2016
Brive's Matthieu Ugalde may have got off lightly with 14 weeks for gouging but is denied the chance to play at Rodney Parade. Poor chap.
— Chris Kirwan (@c_kirwan) September 22, 2016
