This Wednesday, January 15, the list of 42 players selected to prepare for the start of the Six Nations Tournament will be announced.
Back in their respective clubs and at their best on the pitch, Oscar Jegou and Hugo Auradou could be part of this list.
The dismissal of the case in the Mendoza case, where they were accused of “aggravated gang rape”, could support this return.
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Two French XV players accused of rape in Argentina
A little more than six months after the events, will the page already be turned? This Wednesday, January 15, the coach of the Blues, Fabien Galthié must announce the list of 42 players who will prepare for the start of the 2025 Six Nations Tournament (from January 31 to March 15). Among the Rugby players potentially called up, Oscar Jegou and Hugo Auradou, although accused of aggravated rape in Argentina only recently, are expected to join the France team.
They are candidates for the French team
Fabien Galthié
“On a sporting level, they are judged in the same way as other players, for their ability to potentially be in the French team”declared the French coach in an extract from an interview given to RMC. “They are candidates for the French team, based on their performances”he added, not closing the door to the two internationals, who have already been playing regularly with their respective clubs for several months.
Indeed, after being arrested at the beginning of July and placed in detention, the two athletes were authorized to return to France at the beginning of September. Hugo Auradou, with Pau, like Oscar Jegou, with La Rochelle, have since returned to the field and have continued performances, in the Top 14, as well as in European competition.
Their return to the selection could also be helped by managerial injuries. In the 3rd row, the absence of Toulonnais Charles Ollivon, who was withdrawn after a rupture of the cruciate ligament in his right knee, as well as the unavailability for a few weeks of Toulouse's Alexandre Roumat, who suffers from a muscle injury, could thus benefit Oscar Jegou.
A dismissal which allows a return
On the legal side, the two players benefited from a dismissal of the case, pronounced last December, the condition issued by the French Rugby Federation for a possible return to the selection. “From the beginning, we said that we were waiting for the decision of the courts, that we have confidence in the justice system. (…) We waited for all the decisions, until the dismissal of the case. The dismissal of the case, that means that there is a total release of both players. This means that these two players are selectable today.repeated Fabien Galthié.
However, following the dismissal of the case, the plaintiff's lawyers indicated that she had appealed the decision. The hearing is scheduled for February 10 and 11, in the middle of the Six Nations Tournament. Questioned on this subject, the French coach reaffirmed his position. “There is, in the organization of justice, the possibility of appealing. Justice takes its course. But today, as I speak to you, it is a dismissal of the case which concerns them”insisted the coach.
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All the conditions therefore seem to be met for the two players to put on the French team jersey again, barely six months after an extra-sporting affair which highlighted “behavioral deviations”in the terms of the FFR, at the highest level of professional rugby. In addition to the facts, what has been described as “the Mendoza affair” has tainted French rugby. Six months later, a return to the blue and without additional sanctions, of Hugo Auradou, like Oscar Jegou, previously already accused of having tested positive for cocaine in 2023, could dent the exemplary image that wants to give himself the XV of France.
