Disturbing footage emerges of France prop Mohamed Haouas attacking his wife

The Montpellier forward was on Tuesday handed a one-year jail sentence by a French court after he was found guilty of domestic abuse.

Haouas was arrested last Friday for hitting his wife after seeing her smoking. The tighthead prop said she had told him she had stopped.

The 29-year-old, who has 16 caps for France, is set to appeal the sentence and will therefore remain free until that process is complete.

But on Friday disturbing footage surfaced of the moment Haouas chased his wife before kicking and striking her before pulling her up.

"She has the right to smoke but the problem is that she lied to me," Haouas informed the court when speaking about striking his wife.

"I said to myself that if she can lie about the cigarette, she could lie about other things."

This is not the first time Haouas has been in trouble with the law as in February 2022 he was given an 18-month suspended sentence following his involvement in a series of robberies in April 2014.

He is also awaiting the verdict of another trial for his role in a brawl a decade ago, with the court's decision on that case due to be revealed on June 30.

Haouas' hopes of playing at the Rugby World Cup were already in serious doubt following his on-field ill-discipline during the recent Six Nations.

The prop was sent off for headbutting Scotland scrum-half Ben White 12 minutes into his international comeback, which came three years after he was red carded for punching another Scotland player, flanker Jamie Ritchie, at Murrayfield.

Haouas will leave Montpellier at the end of the season after recently signing a deal with Top 14 rivals Clermont, a contract which has now been ripped up.