France rugby union coach Marc Lievremont is awaiting an apology from centre Mathieu Bastareaud for having lied about an assault while on tour in New Zealand.

Bastareaud received a three-month suspension, commuted to community service, for having made up a story about being attacked in the street in Wellington following France's 14-10 defeat by the All Blacks on June 20.

But Lievremont told AFP on Monday that the 21-year-old Stade Francais back needed to come clean and square things with his team-mates and management.

"The ideal thing would be for him to talk about it, to say sorry to his team-mates, the staff, New Zealand, that he declares a kind of mea culpa and then it's all settled," Lievremont said.

"I'm waiting for him to do that and I told him that," Lievremont said, adding that none of the backroom staff "knew what really happened".

The chairman of the French rugby federation, Pierre Camou, referred the affair to the body's disciplinary committee after Prime Minister Francois Fillon ended up apologising to New Zealand for the player's claims.

After a furore erupted in New Zealand, Fillon told his counterpart John Key that Bastareaud's behaviour had been unacceptable.

Wellington police found video evidence that the player had entered the team hotel on the Sunday morning uninjured and had gone to his room 25 minutes later.

Bastareaud finally admitted he had not been assaulted but received a cut and bruised face after a drunken fall in his room.

He said he had invented the assault story to avoid being sent home by the French team management and upsetting his family.

The player went to hospital suffering psychological problems but has since resumed playing for Stade.

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