England fined £10,000 for ‘16th man’

THE England squad have confirmed they will bear the £10,000 fine imposed upon them for fielding an extra player during Sunday’s World Cup win over Samoa.

Team manager Clive Woodward headed a six-man delegation which flew into Sydney to explain how Dan Luger became an infamous ‘16th man’ during the final minute of the Telstra Dome encounter.

After a four-hour hearing at which the England camp admitted ignoring the instructions of fifth official Brett Bowden by ordering Luger onto the field as Iain Balshaw received treatment, RWC judicial officer Brian McLaughlin confirmed the fine. Fitness coach Dave Reddin was handed a two-match touchline ban, but cleared of inciting an altercation with fourth official Steve Walsh.

Although Woodward left the hearing without comment, he had warned earlier of the seriousness of the misconduct charges.

With the possibility of points deduction and elimination from the tournament in the offing, England’s legal advisor, Richard Smith, pleaded mitigation and emerged with a punishment acceptable to the England camp.

“The England squad and management accept the judgement and now look forward to Sunday’s fixture against Uruguay,” said a statement read by English RFU communications director Richard Prescott.

The fine amounts to little more than a slap on the wrist to the England RFU, who incurred almost as much expense travelling down from their Gold Coast base in Queensland.

Woodward, Prescott, Reddin, Smith, Luger and eye witness Andy Gomarsall were to stay in Sydney overnight before flying back to Brisbane to continue preparations for Sunday’s game against Uruguay at Suncorp Stadium, where victory would almost certainly pitch them into a quarter-final with Wales.

Reddin will not be allowed on the sidelines for either of those games but, referring to the Walsh case in which Reddin was cleared of misconduct charges, Prescott made it clear there would be no further repercussions.