Fivemiletown rugby player Chris Farrell has stepped back from involvement with Munster Rugby.

The Province announced both parties agreed on the move "whilst legal proceedings in France, concerning his alleged involvement as a witness to an alleged crime in 2017, are ongoing".

"As this is an active legal matter before the French courts, we have no further comment," Munster said in a short statement.

It has been reported that the legal proceedings against Farrell, who has 15 Irish caps, stem from his time with French club, Grenoble.

Three men - Irishman Denis Coulson (28), New Zealander Rory Grice (32), and Frenchman Loick Jammes (27) - are accused of raping a woman in Merignac in 2017 following a Top14 game between Grenoble and Bordeaux-Begles.

A report in French publication La Dauphiné Libéré suggest that there is evidence to bring forward a charge of not stopping a crime against Farrell and another man, New Zealander Dylan Hayes, and both had been indicted in 2021.

The publication reported Farrell had been questioned about the alleged incident in 2017, but no legal action was taken before the new decision was taken.