Paris (AFP)

The international pillar of Montpellier Mohamed Haouas, excluded Sunday against Scotland, was given a three-week suspension by the disciplinary committee of the Six Nations Tournament, AFP learned on Wednesday.

Haouas (25, 4 caps) had initially been suspended for six weeks but benefited from extenuating circumstances, due to his lack of experience at the highest international level and the scuffle that preceded the punch of Haouas on the third line of the XV thistle Jamie Ritchie.

The sanction applies to all competitions and the first line will therefore not be able to play with their club before the beginning of April.

He had been excluded just before halftime of the defeat in Edinburgh (28-17) for this stroke.

The MHR player was heard in London on Wednesday, along with Blues general manager Raphaël Ibanez and a lawyer.

They had come to defend Haouas, Ibanez having assured after the meeting to have assembled a file "as precisely as possible", with "fairly telling images" concerning the gesture of the Scotsman Nick Haining, who touches the face of Haouas just before fatal punch.

© 2020 AFP