Galthie has finally spoken about Mohamed Haouas' recent conviction
France boss Fabien Galthie has ruled Mohamed Haouas out of selection for the upcoming Rugby World Cup following his court conviction last week in Montpellier. The 29-year-old was handed a one-year jail sentence for hitting his wife in public.
He told a court that he had lost control when he saw his wife smoking at the shopping centre where she worked, after telling him she had given up.
The court did not follow the recommendations of the prosecution, who had called for the prop to face 18 months in prison, beginning immediately. Instead, Haouas is currently free while he launches an appeal, or he could wear an electronic tag.
In the meantime, the fallout for his rugby career has been savage. The front-rower was due to join Clermont on a three-year deal this summer, but they have now ripped up that contract leaving him clubless.
A French rugby federation statement explained that Les Bleus head coach Galthie would address the Haouas case on June 7 at a two-day preliminary training camp which marked the start of pre-season preparations for Rugby World Cup 2023.
As promised, Galthie took questions at his media briefing and Haouas, who has won all 16 of his Test caps under the coach, is now officially out of the running for World Cup selection. Asked for his view about the forward being convicted of an act of domestic violence, Galthie said: “Last week, I called him.
“I listened to him and told him that he would not be selected. He replied that he understood and apologised to the players and the staff.”
Asked if this selection unavailability extended beyond the upcoming finals, Galthie replied: “The competition we are interested in is the World Cup.
"I didn't survey my players (about the decision) but we exchanged a lot, yes," he added. "What they said, I will keep to myself. But what is happening to Momo Haouas is not good news for him or for us.”
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Ford completely took the energy out the game for us, waving his hands telling people to calm down. Just for us to die off and lose the momentum.
Bringing him on all the time to ‘close out’ games is condescending to Smith. Get Ford out and let Marcus Smith & Fin Smith run the show. The future is them so give them the keys and let them get on with it.
Go to commentsTaking Marcus Smith off was a big puzzle and probably cost England the game. However, Abs created more opportunities and scored some tries but left a lot out there through sloppy execution, not playing to the ref and no enforcement of English off-side play. The fact the game was close all through made it worth watching but it was a frustrating pectacle. English succeeded in slowing the game down and were in the refs ear which Gardner allowed. I think Ireland or France will punish the sloppy execution more than England so still much for ABs to work on.
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