Former Wales captain Sam Warburton has accused Romain Ntamack of going on a “revenge mission” to catch Ben Thomas with the high tackle that got the France fly-half sent off in the Six Nations opener.

Ntamack is likely to be banned for the match against England at the Allianz Stadium next weekend after being given a 20-minute red card following a TMO bunker review. He hit the Wales No 10 in the head with his shoulder during France’s 43-0 victory at Stade de France on Friday.

Warburton highlighted a moment between the two players prior to the red-card incident where Thomas smashed Ntamack, legally, before a scuffle on the floor ensued.

Not long after, Ntamack took his opportunity to exact “revenge”, according to Warburton.

“Romain Ntamack got a red card. Now this, I think, is the absolute correct decision,” Warburton said. “He is bolt upright, there’s force and it’s to the head, a senior coach will be completely annoyed by this.

“A complete lack of composure from Ntamack and this could be a massive blow for their Six Nations.

“The precursor to that was this shot from Ben Thomas. I think it is actually a great shot but it’s the bit of afters on the floor that Ben Thomas does, which you always do in international rugby. I think Romain Ntamack has taken it way too personally for what Ben Thomas did and then this looks like a revenge mission to me.”

Speaking on ITV after the match last night, ex-Wales fly-half Dan Biggar condemned Ntamack’s actions, saying: “I think Fabien Galthié, Shaun Edwards and the French coaching staff will be furious with that.

“You see the scoreline, it was 38-0, 70 minutes on the clock and your main player, who hasn’t played for 18 months, is probably going to miss certainly one game, maybe two. You can see how disappointed he is. He’s really annoyed with himself.”

Ntamack has struggled with injuries in recent times and his return to the French side, alongside Toulouse team-mate Antoine Dupont, has been seen as a major boost for their Six Nations title hopes.

Galthié is likely to have to choose between moving his full-back Thomas Ramos to the No 10 position or recalling Matthieu Jalibert, who allegedly refused to play for France during their autumn campaign, for the England clash.