Northampton Saints chairman Keith Barwell has decided not to take any action after several of his players fought amongst themselves following the recent Heineken European Cup match against Toulouse in France.
Saints get away with it
The fracas broke out in a pub and the English club admitted an incident took place in the early hours of last Sunday morning following their 25-12 defeat.
The fight took place in the Frog and Rosbif - a Toulouse city-centre bar - and allegedly involved around a dozen Saints squad members. Barwell has insisted no disciplinary action would be taken. In his programme notes for the Northampton versus Bedford English Cup tie at the weekend, he admitted the incident had taken place.
Barwell wrote: "Did a few players have a few beers? Yes. Was there a bit of fisticuffs between our players? Yes. Was anyone else involved? No. Am I going to take any further action? No.
"During the last few weeks I have asked the players to give blood for the club and put some passion back. This they have done. Against Toulouse last week they performed magnificently and I was proud of every one of them. I did not receive one single complaint from any of our travelling fans about the incident. We have to stay loyal to each other and be honest and positive."
The club are struggling in the English Zurich Premiership and have recently sacked the former Ulster coach Alan Solomons.
Final words on Crown
Final Words, Triple Crown 2004 is not your standard sporting review as anyone who tunes into the programme on RTÉ 2 next Sunday, St Stephen's Day, will be able to testify.
This is a stylish and entertainingly different account of Ireland's first Triple Crown success since 1985 and, aside from eliciting revealing insights from many of the leading players in the triumph, such as Paul O'Connell, Ronan O'Gara, Brian O'Driscoll, Anthony Foley and Gordon D'Arcy, the producer and director, Dave Berry, also interviews our own Gerry Thornley, George Hook and Tony Ward.
West best down under
Perth is to become the home to the fourth Australian Super 12 franchise and Western Australia (Rugby WA) will begin playing there in 2006. It proved a straight fight between Rugby WA and the Victorian Rugby Union but the Australian Rugby Union (ARU) came down unanimously in favour of the Perth franchise.
The criteria that clinched it came down to three long-held ARU objectives: growing the elite player base of Australian rugby; increasing the mass entertainment audience and commercial value of Australian rugby and, finally, rugby development through increased participation.
Springboks make stand
South African Rugby (SA Rugby) has confirmed that it will appeal to the South African Labour Court a one million rand award to three Springbok players for unfair termination of contracts. A protracted legal battle is anticipated.
The South Africa Rugby Players Association (SARPA) had taken up the case on behalf of the players; Victor Matfield, Richard Bands and Christo Bezuidenhoit, relating to a passage of events at the end of 2003. The then Springbok coach Rudolf Straeuli made promises to a number of players "that created the expectation" that they would be contracted by SA Rugby for the 2004 season.
This didn't pan out, however, and SARPA took the case to the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration, which found that the players were unfairly dismissed as SA Rugby "did not prove that there was a fair reason for no renewing their contracts".
Unsurprisingly, SA Rugby have a different slant on the issue and they are claiming that the contracts were terminated by mutual consent, were never committed to in writing and not agreed by the players and SA Rugby but rather with a coach who was subsequently dismissed.
You're needed for vote
This is just a pre-Christmas reminder that The Irish Times and AIB will again link up this season to sponsor the AIB/The Irish Times All-Ireland League Division One Team of the Season. This will be the fifth successive year of the competition and each year it gets harder and harder to chose the final 15. With that in mind, we're looking for a little assistance from Planet Rugby readers.
This year's team will be chosen with the help of the Division One coaches, who will be asked to nominate three of their own players, and the best three opposition players they have seen in action throughout the regular season, irrespective of the position on the team.
It is these players, along with those chosen by The Irish Times rugby correspondent Gerry Thornley, John O'Sullivan, Johnny Watterson and Gavin Cummiskey, from which the team will be picked.
We've added a twist to the selection process this year. We want you to vote for your team of the season, from a shortlist. We will publish that list of players nominated by the Division One coaches. You will be asked to select your team of the season from a choice of three players for each position.
Public voting will commence on Monday, April 4th, 2005 and you will be able to nominate until Monday, April 25th, 2005. The AIB League Irish Times Team of Season will be announced on Monday, May 2nd.
The 10 people to pick the team that matches or closely resembles the team, as chosen by The Irish Times rugby panel, will be invited to attend the AIB League finals day as guests. The prize consists of two tickets for the AIB finals day lunch, two stand tickets, and overnight accommodation in Dublin.
