France's Paul Gabrillagues becomes available for World Cup after ban reduced to three weeks

France lock Paul Gabrillagues will be available for the World Cup in Japan next month after his ban was reduced by half following an appeal.

The 26-year-old was initially suspended for six weeks for a dangerous clearout by an independent World Rugby disciplinary committee comprising of Simon Thomas (Wales) alongside Donal Courtney (Ireland) and Valeriu Toma (Romania) during the 16th minute of the game against Scotland at Allianz Riviera last weekend.

Nevertheless, Gabrillagues went on to appeal against the sanction which paid dividends as he will now be ruled out only for two more games after having already missed out the reverse fixture against Gregor Townsend's men at Murrayfield Stadium.

“Having considered all the evidence and submissions by the player and his representative, the appeal committee determined that the act of foul play contrary to Law 9.20 merited a mid-range entry point, which has a starting point of six weeks.

“The appeal committee found that there were no aggravating factors, but in light of his admission, the fact the appeal committee accepted his account of the incident and other relevant features of mitigation, the committee reduced the suspension to three weeks.”

France will face Italy in their final warm-up game against Italy at Stade de France on 30th September.