Fijian duo standing trial after night out goes horribly wrong

Fiji rugby stars Josaia Raisuqe and Waisea Nayacalevu have gone on trial in France over a drunken brawl outside a Paris nightspot, with Raisuqe answering charges of sexual assault.

The two wings for the Top 14 side Stade Francais, 23-year-old Raisuqe and Waisea, 27, were arrested in the early hours of July 23.

A 35-year-old woman alleged that Raisuqe had pinned her against a wall and “touched her breasts in a brutal way.”

A brawl ensued between the players and two of the woman’s friends, who were left with injuries for which they were signed off work for two to three days.

The rugby players are accused of punching the two several times in the face and neck.

Raisuqe, who was celebrating his birthday, claimed to have little memory of the incident because he was drunk.

Stade Francais, which sacked Raisuqe over the affair, condemned “with the utmost firmness all forms of violence and in particular violence against women”.

Second-flight outfit Nevers handed him a lifeline by taking him on in September. Waisea, who was the leading try scorer in the Top 14 last season, was kept on after being given a warning.

This article first appeared on Rugby 365