Peato Mauvaka was not dismissed despite appearing to headbutt Ben White (Image: AFP via Getty Images)
‘s head coach Gregor Townsend has voiced his confusion over the decision not to dismiss French hooker Peato Mauvaka for an alleged headbutt on Ben White during their clash. As France clinched their first title since 2022 with a 35-16 victory, Townsend praised the overall performance of Les Bleus but was left puzzled by the call made after Mauvaka’s head connected with White in the 20th minute.
Reflecting on the penalty awarded to France and the subsequent skirmish that only saw Mauvaka receive a yellow card despite appearing to headbutt White, who had been pushed down by Thomas Ramos, Townsend contended: “Well the decision not to raise it to a red card was because there was not excessive force.
“I’m not sure that’s really the criteria for a non-tackle incident. It clearly was a non-tackle incident, it was after the whistle. So, if there was head contact and that was intentional, it shouldn’t be anything to do with the force that was involved.”
Townsend expressed sympathy for White, saying, “I feel sorry for Ben White here, because he did nothing. He was first of all pushed to the ground, and a push is nothing in rugby, and then he got collided in the head, so I don’t know how it wasn’t raised to a red card.”
“But whether that has had anything to do with the final result, who knows, because France deserved the win, deserve to be champions, they’re a quality side.”
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Gregor Townsend has been left stunned by the decision (Image: 2025 Getty Images)
Despite the controversy, Townsend acknowledged that his side were second best on the day, saying: “Even though we played really well at times tonight, France were the better team in the end.”
After falling behind 10-0, Scotland rallied, and a try from Darcy Graham narrowed the deficit to 16-13 at halftime. However, they were denied another try just before the break when Tom Jordan’s effort was disallowed due to Blair Kinghorn’s elbow going into touch.
France took advantage, scoring three more tries in the second half to secure a second title since 2010. Despite a disappointing fourth-place finish with only two wins, Townsend was encouraged by his team’s performance.
Peato Mavuaka clashed with Ben White (Image: Getty Images)
“It’s a difficult one because we lost the game and we weren’t pushing at the end to win the game, but what we asked for the players tonight was to deliver physically, and they did that,” said Townsend.
“There’s a lot to be proud of and a lot to build on. Strangely, our two best performances this year were in defeats to England and to France, especially 80-minute performances, but we can take a lot from those two games as we look to next year and beyond when we have those challenges again.”
France head coach Fabien Galthie acknowledged that his team felt the pressure early on but managed to pull away and secure the title.
“We scored 30 tries so we broke a record in the competition,” he declared. “We managed to put defences out of balance during the tournament, but today it was more difficult, we scored only four tries. We were less dominant in attack than usual.
“I feel there was a bit of pressure. We put ourselves in danger. We were against a team that was totally light and had nothing to play for apart from their rugby. It’s been incredible to experience the past two months, all the opponents, the scenarios. We’re very happy.”
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