Monaghan ‘spoke to referee’ over alleged Wafer bite

Ireland captain Sam Monaghan says she spoke to match officials about an alleged bite on Aoife Wafer in Sunday’s World Cup quarter-final defeat by France.

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

Wafer, who was making her first appearance of the tournament, appeared to have been bitten on the arm by French back row Axelle 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 and went on to book a semi-final spot in the 18-13 win.

Ireland captain Monaghan said she raised the incident with the 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.

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,” she 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.

When asked by BBC Sport if the incident had been discussed by the Irish 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.

“Hopefully it does get looked at but that’s not up to us.”

Irish 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 added in his post-match press 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.