The Clermont skipper appeared to make contact with McCaw’s eye late on during the All Blacks’ narrow win over Les Bleus in October but the footage showing the incident came out after the 36-hour citing period, meaning Rougerie faced no disciplinary action.

McCaw commented on the incident yesterday at a charity event in Christchurch, claiming the French had been “as bad as they have ever been” during the nail-biting loss.

However Papé, who is targeting a place in new coach Philippe Saint-André’s RBS 6 Nations squad, reminded the 30-year-old that he had also been involved in the incident which forced Morgan Parra from the field after a blow to the cheek.

The Stade Français player said: “You mustn’t forget that ‘our friend McCaw’, without wishing to spark controversy, put a good knee into Morgan Parra who had to come off.

“He’s been operated on his foot, he’s sat on his sofa and has nothing to do at the moment.

“He’s found this to keep himself busy.

“He says he couldn’t see anything, maybe that’s why he kept coming into the ruck from the wrong side.”