OFFICIALS of the Irish Rugby Football Union yesterday studied a video of an incident in the A international between Ireland and Wales at Donnybrook on Friday, in which Welsh flanker Martyn Williams appears to stamp on the head of Ireland second row forward Malcolm O'Kelly. Williams last night emphatically denied deliberately stamping on O'Kelly but did admit he made contact unintentionally with the side of O'Kelly's head." The IRFU last night stated that a copy of the video is being submitted to the Welsh Rugby Union.

Williams, who is rated by his peers as a very fair player and against whom no disciplinary action has been taken in his career, said: "I remember the incident. An Irish player came through on the wrong side. The ball was there and I went for it, twice in fact. The second time, I was pushed and I caught the Irish player on the side of the head. It was completely unintentional. Nobody made any comment to me after the match about it. I have never stamped on a player's head deliberately in my life, nor was it my intention to do so on occasion last Friday. My sole intention was to get the ball."

Neither the referee nor the touch judge nearest to the incident took any action, but the crowd on the side of the field where the incident took place reacted to the stamping.

Philip Browne, secretary of the IRFU said yesterday that the union had asked for and have been given a video of the incident. Last night the IRFU issued a statement after the video was seen by members of the committee. Having had an opportunity to view the incident involving the Welsh number seven Martin Williams and Ireland's Malcolm O'Kelly, the union regard it as a matter of serious concern. The IRFU has sent a copy of the video to the Welsh Rugby Union. In the meantime the IRFU is examining the precise procedures and matters of jurisdiction under which action can be taken."

The secretary of the Welsh Rugby Union Edward Jones said last night:

We are not aware of any offence of foul play being committed by a Wales player in the A international against Ireland. However if the relevant video evidence is sent to us it will he examined. At this moment, I have no further comment to add on the matter.

While the law in relation to citing players in the Five Nations Championship specifically states that a player must be cited within 24 hours of the match for foul play, the A international does not fall into that category. The International Board law on citing just states: "Where a player commits an act of foul play which has not been detected by match officials either of the unions or affiliated organisations participating in the match have the discretion to cite that player to show cause why he should not be held accountable in the same way as a player who has been ordered off."

When a player is ordered off it is then the duty of the referee as soon as possible after the match to send to the union or appropriate disciplinary body having jurisdiction over the match a report naming the player and outlining the reason for his dismissal. The player has the right to give evidence on his own behalf and may call on video evidence.

Two courses of action are open to the IRFU. They can cite the player or, alternatively, having sent the video to the WRU they can leave the WRU to deal with the matter. That is the most likely course of action.

For instance, after the Five Nations Championship match between England and France earlier in the season, the English Rugby Union did not cite French player Richard Dourthe for kicking Ben Clarke, but drew the attention of, the French Federation to the incident. The FFR suspended Dourthe for 30 days.