Welsh and Scottish rugby chiefs were in the dock yesterday to answer charges that they fielded ineligible players at international level this year.

Wales stars Shane Howarth and Brett Sinkinson - both New-Zealand born - and Scotland prop David Hilton attended an International Rugby Board disciplinary hearing in Dublin, which is scheduled to finish today. The three-man panel, chaired by South African judge Jannie Lubbe, will deliver its verdict after hearing all the evidence, and, if necessary, dish out punishments.

With regard to the players, neither Howarth, Sinkinson nor Hilton have represented their countries since allegations surfaced in March questioning their Welsh and Scottish ancestry.

Both Howarth and Sinkinson, who have won 33 caps between them, claimed to qualify through Welsh grandparents, while 41-times-capped Hilton believed that his grandfather was from Edinburgh, not Bristol as has been subsequently discovered.

The likelihood is that the trio will be rendered ineligible for Test match rugby until they've served a 36-month residency period in their respected countries. Meanhwile French full-back Thomas Castaignede is convinced his big-money move to Saracens will not affect his place in the national side.

The 25-year-old Castres man has bucked the trend of recent Premiership imports by joining an English club while still in the prime of his career.

Castaignede has signed a two-year deal with the ambitious Vicarage Road outfit.