The Mendoza public prosecutor’s office will not decide this Friday whether or not to dismiss the two players from the French XV, suspected of raping a 39-year-old Argentinian woman.
Long postponed, the decision of the Argentine courts was expected this Friday morning in the Jégou-Auradou affair. This will not be the case, according to information from Olympic Midday . Indeed, according to our colleagues, two hearings will take place: a first this Friday, October 18, and another, a week later, on October 25. It is at the end of this second hearing, and within ten days, that the verdict of the Argentine courts will be known. “During these two hearings, each party will plead. The deliberations can then be made between the 25th and the following ten days. people close to the court case said.
The long series which began this summer is therefore not over. The two young internationals, both aged 21, had been charged with aggravated rape (because committed in a meeting) for alleged acts that occurred on the night of July 6 to 7 in a hotel room in Mendoza, where the XV of France had just played a test match against Argentina.
Inconsistencies around a bleeding disorder
Hugo Auradou (Pau) and Oscar Jégou (La Rochelle) had affirmed since the start of this resounding affair that the sexual relations with the complainant, met in a nightclub, were consensual. They had denied any violence, when the plaintiff’s lawyer had mentioned “terrible violence” towards his client “savagely beaten”. The plaintiff’s defense then increased its appeals to delay the judgment.
The latest: a new medical expertise had been presented to justify that the complainant did not suffer from a bleeding disorder. This illness (called Willebrand disease) was invoked by the players’ defense to explain the bruises found on his body, while the plaintiff claims that these marks are the result of violence inflicted by the players. The 39-year-old Argentinian woman herself admitted, initially at the start of the case, to suffering from Willebrand disease.
LUIS ROBAYO / AFP
Previously, the complainant had submitted to an assessment by experts commissioned by the public prosecutor’s office. The two practitioners noted “contradictory and inconsistent content when explaining situations with which it is confronted (…) which overall paint an unlikely story”.
I don’t speak of them in the imperfect tense. They are still part of our nuggets
Fabien Galthié
First detained then placed under house arrest, the second line from Pau and the third line from La Rochelle were released in mid-August, then authorized to leave Argentina pending the end of the investigation. The prosecution noted “the existence of notable contradictions, inconsistencies, gray areas and even insufficient explanations” in the plaintiff’s statements. The two players returned to France on September 4 and then, immediately, resumed training in their respective clubs. Auradou played again in the Top 14, each time as a starter, against Perpignan and Castres. Jégou has returned to training with Stade Rochelais but has not yet returned to the championship pitches.
The FFR had recently made it known, through Jean-Marc Lhermet, vice-president in charge of the French teams, that the two players would not be able to wear the tricolor jersey if there was no dismissal. “As long as there is no official dismissal, Hugo Auradou and Oscar Jegou will not play again in the French team, Lhermet explained. The position I express is that of the FFR. Pau does what he wants, La Rochelle too.” No November tour, therefore, for the two neo-internationals. Even if Fabien Galthié had not closed the door of the Blues to them. “I don’t speak of them in the imperfect tense. They are still part of our nuggets, declared the French coach, a week after the alleged facts. All I can say about that is that the two players you are talking about were very good in Mendoza. Really, very, very good.”
