The dropping of charges against Hugo Aurad and Oscar Jego draws a line under a dark period for France’s rugby community.

An Argentinian court dismissed rape charges against two French international rugby players accused of assaulting a woman after a match in the country, the players’ lawyers said.

“As we expected, the French players have been acquitted because the [sexual] act was consensual, meaning there was no crime and no doubt that they are innocent,” defence lawyer German Hnatow said on Tuesday after the hearing in the city of Mendoza.

Hugo Auradou and Oscar Jegou, both aged 21, were arrested two days after winning their first international caps for France against Argentina in Mendoza, about 620 miles (1,000 kilometres) west of the capital Buenos Aires.

The woman, whom they met in a nightclub on the night of their July 6 match, said they assaulted her viciously in the hotel room.

The pair insisted they had consensual sex with the woman.

The players were kept in preventive custody for a little more than a week and then under house arrest for nearly a month before being allowed to return to France after prosecutors said the case against them appeared flimsy.

The prosecution later called for the charges to be dropped.