After Hugo Auradou, another French international prosecuted for rape in Argentina, it is the turn of Oscar Jegou to return for the first time to a French Rugby field. He will play in La Rochelle this Saturday, November 2 against Stade français.
A remarkable return. French international Oscar Jegou, still charged with rape in Argentina, is back in the La Rochelle group as a starter for the first time this season on Saturday against Stade Français, according to the team composition published Friday by the club. With the second line of Pau Hugo Auradou, who returned to the field at the beginning of October, the third line of La Rochelle is still charged with aggravated rape by the Argentine courts for alleged facts which allegedly occurred in Mendoza, on the night following their first selection in French team against Argentina on July 6.
A hearing to study the two players’ request for dismissal, postponed several times and initially scheduled for Friday, has been postponed indefinitely. The two players have maintained from the beginning that the sexual relations with the complainant, a 39-year-old Argentinian they met in a nightclub, were consensual and without violence. His lawyer, on the contrary, denounced a rape with «violence terrible». First placed in pre-trial detention then placed under house arrest in Mendoza, the players were released in mid-August, then authorized to return to France at the beginning of September.
Awaiting a decision to dismiss the case
Hugo Auradou returned to the Pau training center five days later and resumed collective training in mid-September, before playing again for the first time in Perpignan, at the beginning of October during the 5th day of the Top 14. Oscar Jegou had resumed training at the end of September, but his return to competition had been delayed by his club which had initially set itself the course of action to wait for a decision to dismiss the case from the Argentine courts.
The various postponements of the hearing, but also the shortage of third lines in the maritime ranks, have changed this position. La Rochelle captain Grégory Alldritt and flanker Paul Boudehent are currently with the Blues in Marcoussis to prepare for the November test matches, Fijian Levani Botia has not completely recovered from his broken forearm while Judicaël Cancoriet has was suspended for four weeks by the disciplinary committee this Thursday following a yellow card received against Bordeaux-Bègles.
“We are very happy to see him back on the field and to see him play rugby” La Rochelle assistant coach Rémi Talès commented on Thursday, when asked about the presence of Jegou in training with a starting bib. Just re-elected as head of the FFR, Florian Grill said on October 21 in the Team that even if the players were back with their respective teams in Pau and La Rochelle, “for Jégou and Auradou, we were very clear: they will not play again for the French team as long as there is no dismissal.”
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