Grenoble suspend trio accused of gang rape

Coulson, 22, Grice, 27, and Jammes, 22, were on Wednesday charged with gang raping a 21-year-old woman in a hotel after she met them at a nightclub in Bordeaux following their Top 14 defeat by Bordeaux-Begles on March 11.

Grenoble in a statement reported that without prejudging legal decisions it "had decided to summon them to a preliminary hearing with a view to an eventual ending of their contracts and to suspend them as a precautionary measure,"

Grenoble's statement clarified that "this decision was taken in view of the professional obligations that weigh on the players and that it does not prejudge in any way their presumption of innocence,"

Under the terms of their judicial supervision, the players are forbidden from making contact with their accuser and of leaving France and must report to a police station.

Three of their teammates - 24-year-old Irishman Chris Farrell, Dylan Hayes, 23-year-old, from New Zealand and Australian lock Peter Kimlin, 31-year-old, were also questioned by police but were not charged.

Agence France-Presse