'Disgrace' - France player cited after alleged bite

France back row Axelle Berthoumieu has been cited for an alleged bite on Ireland's Aoife Wafer in Sunday's World Cup quarter-final.

The incident occurred as Ireland won a penalty turnover in the second half of their 18-13 defeat by France at Sandy Park.

Wafer, who was making her first appearance of the tournament, appeared to have been bitten on the arm by back row Berthoumieu in the 42nd minute.

Footage immediately after the incident showed Wafer looking at her arm.

France were trailing 13-0 at the time of the incident but recovered to take the win and will face England next.

Ireland captain Sam Monaghan said she raised the incident with referee Aimee Barrett-Theron, but no action was taken during the match.

"I spoke to the referee," lock Monaghan said. "Aoife told me, I didn't see it myself, but I spoke to the referee and asked them."

Any retrospective action after a citing review could see the French back row handed a ban that may rule her out of the semi-final.

France second row and co-captain Manae Feleu will also face the citing commissioner for a high tackle in the quarter-final win.

'It's disgraceful'

A photo of the alleged incident involving Axelle Berthoumieu and Aoife Wafer

Former England World Cup winner Maggie Alphonsi said the alleged incident was a "disgrace" and Berthoumieu should be punished if found guilty.

"I hate seeing that in the game," Alphonsi said.

"When it comes to a situation like that it's very clear, she should be punished for that.

"It's sad because we've been celebrating the women's game in this World Cup.

"It's such a shame that the headlines will be dominated by the incident by a player who didn't need to do that."

Former Scotland international Deborah McCormack said she felt sorry for Ireland as the decision not to review the incident in the game could have had an impact on the outcome of the quarter-final.

"It could have had an effect on the game if it was looked at at the time," said McCormack.

"It wasn't looked at, but obviously it will be now. I feel for Ireland because it could have had an impact on that game.

"We don't want this in our game."

'Not our decision to make'

When asked by BBC Sport if the incident had been discussed by the Ireland team, try-scorer Stacey Flood said it was "down to the officials on the day".

"We just have to get on with it and it's not our decision to make," Flood said.

"I think it was said to the referee, but if it wasn't taken up then there's nothing we can do about it.

"We just have to live in the moment and focus on our next job."

Ireland head coach Scott Bemand said he had not seen the incident but felt his leadership group had done all they could to highlight it to Barrett-Theron.

"I'm not going to get drawn into anything at this point. I haven't seen anything. I've literally stepped in here," Bemand said in his post-match media conference.

"I think in terms of process, your on-pitch leadership would mention to the referee, and it's up to the team officials to deal with it should they see fit at that point.

"If there are bits to pursue, we could potentially be disappointed, but we've followed the process as best we can from our perspective in terms of the on-pitch leadership conversations."