A WOMEN’S RUGBY WORLD CUP star shockingly appeared to BITE her rival.
And it was so bad that fans joked it made “Luis Suarez look like a nibble” in reference to the Uruguayan footballer’s biting antics.
A French rugby star was accused of biting her Irish opponent
Axelle Berthoumieu was compared to footballer Luis Suarez
France took on Ireland in the .
Les Bleus came from 13-0 down at half-time to storm to a 18-13 victory and book their spot in the last four.
However, the match was overshadowed by an apparent bite.
A screenshot from the action early in the second half seems to show Axelle Berthoumieu attempting to take a chunk out of Aoife Wafer’s arm.
The image sees the pair tussling for the ball in a ruck.
Berthoumieu appears to have a hold of Wafer’s wrist with her left hand and trying to sink her teeth into the forearm.
Wafer came out of the ruck pointing at her arm after securing the turnover and accusing her rival of a bite.
Despite Irish players pointing to the giant TV screen showing the replay, the incident was missed by the referee.
And Berthoumieu also escaped punishment from the TMO during the comeback victory – although she could be cited and banned retrospectively by chiefs.
captain Sam Monaghan did speak to the official on the field but with no joy.
She said: “I spoke to the referee, I didn’t see it.
“I spoke to the referee and asked could they have a look at it. [The check] It was through TMO.”
Ireland head coach Scott Bemand refused to “get drawn into” the debate around the controversy.
Bemand added: “We’ve literally just stepped off the pitch. If there’s any bits to pick up, we’ll pick up in the next hour.
“I think in terms of process, your on pitch leadership would mention to the referee. Then it’s up to the team officials to deal with it should they see fit at that point.
“I’m not going to get drawn into anything at this point. at the moment, I haven’t seen anything. As I said I’ve literally stepped in here.
“If there are bits to pursue, we could potentially be disappointed but we’ve followed the process as best we can from our perspective in terms of the on-pitch conversations.”
coach Gaelle Mignot insisted she had not seen the incident.
‘DISAPPOINTING ACTION, DISAPPOINTING RESPONSE’
But plenty of fans on social media were convinced by what they saw.
One said: “This is crazy behaviour. Makes Suarez look like a nibble.”
Suarez bit opponents while playing for Ajax, Liverpool and Uruguay in three separate incidents – the latter against Italy at the 2014 World Cup.
Another quipped: “Suarez’s little sister.”
A third wrote: “Citing no good after the event… straight red changes the whole shape of the game.”
A fourth added: “Dreadful behaviour and deserves a severe censure.”
A fifth user typed: “Disappointing action – disappointing response from officials.”
And a sixth blasted: “Shameful from the player and embarrassing from the TMO after it was flagged.”
However, others insisted there was “no evidence” of a definite bite.
And a final user replied: “You can’t tell that is what is going on in a still picture. That could just be arm around a mouth.”
SunSport has contacted France Rugby for comment.
Aoife Wafer complained to the referee with no success
France came from 13-0 down to win 18-13 
