Julien Dupuy must face year ban, says Shaun Edwards

Shaun Edwards is calling for France scrum-half Julien Dupuy to be banned for a year if he is found guilty of eye-gouging.

Dupuy and Stade Francais teammate David Attoub have both been cited for allegedly eye-gouging Ulster's Stephen Ferris during the French side's 23-13 Heineken Cup defeat at Ravenshill on Saturday.

Flanker Ferris was treated on the pitch and after the game said he had felt "numerous fingers" in his eye. The minimum penalty for gouging is three months but after watching TV footage of the incident involving Dupuy, Edwards has called for stiffer punishments.

"It's the worst thing a player could do - there is just no place for it in the game," said the London Wasps head coach.

"He needs to get a serious ban for that. To do it against a fellow professional is out of order."

Tournament chiefs have yet to fix a date for the hearing but any punishment would potentially cover the whole of the Six Nations, which runs from the first weekend of February until 20 March.