France send Bastareaud home

by Gareth Maher , 22 June 2009

Mathieu Bastareaud has been sent home from France's tour of the southern hemisphere due to an alleged assault.

The Stade Francis player was not involved in the 14-10 defeat to New Zealand on Saturday and it has been revealed that he was assaulted in Wellington.

While full details of the incident have yet to be revealed, it is believed that the 20-year-old suffered facial injuries after being attacked by four or five people in the early hours of Sunday morning.

He will now travel back to France to discover the extent of his injuries and the French Federation (FFR) are expected to report the incident to the New Zealand Rugby Union.

Bastareaud has emerged as a rising star for Les Bleus since making his international debut in this year's RBS 6 Nations, but he will definitely not play against Australia on Saturday.

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