Three Grenoble rugby players - Denis Coulson from Ireland, Rory Grice of New Zealand and Loick Jammes from France - have been charged with rape, prosecutors in Bordeaux have said.
Coulson, 22, Grice, 27, and Jammes, 22, are accused of raping a 21-year-old woman in a hotel after she met them at a nightclub in Bordeaux following their Top 14 defeat by Bordeaux-Begles on 11 March.
Under the terms of their judicial supervision they are forbidden from making contact with their accuser and of leaving France, and must report to a police station.
Prosecutors said that there was "serious or consistent evidence against them which makes their participation likely, as perpetrators or accomplices, in the offence of which they have been accused."
They face a maximum prison sentence of 20 years if found guilty.
Jammes' lawyer, Berard Boulloud, said the charge would allow "access to the case file to put forward a real defence for our respective clients, respecting the presumption of innocence".
The players were detained yesterday by police in Bordeaux after an initial round of questioning by officers in Grenoble on 22 March.
Two of their team-mates - 24-year-old Irishman Chris Farrell and Dylan Hayes, 23, from New Zealand - were also interviewed by police yesterday but were not charged.
A sixth Grenoble player, Australian lock Peter Kimlin, 31, was questioned last month, but was not among the group interviewed again yesterday.
The alleged victim told police she met the players in a nightclub and then went back to their hotel in Merignac, near Bordeaux.
Grenoble initially suspended the six players on 17 March, lifting the suspensions 12 days later.
However, the French Top 14 club insisted they reserved the right to take further measures should new information surface in the investigation.
Solicitor for Denis Coulson Cahir O'Higgins issued a statement this afternoon saying: "it is an utter disgrace that Mr Coulson hasn't been released from the process. Despite the fact that he is completely innocent his reputation is being severely and unfairly tarnished".
Mr O'Higgins continued: "Mr Coulson is an extremely mannerly, respectful and law-abiding individual who does not deserve to continue in the process or have his good name besmirched".
