Tigers move on from cup exit

Tigers unable to appeal disciplinary committee's decision

Last updated: 9th February 2010   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Tigers move on from cup exit

Byrne: Returned to field after dislocating his toe against Leicester

Related links

Teams

Also see

Leicester have drawn a line under the 16th man controversy which marred their exit from this year's Heineken Cup.

The Tigers failed to make it through to the knockout stages of the competition after they were beaten 17-12 by Ospreys in their final group game.

The result at Liberty Stadium was overshadowed though by the hosts having an extra man on the field for around a minute of the game when full-back Lee Byrne returned to the pitch after having treatment on a dislocated toe.

Leicester complained to European Rugby Cup and Ospreys were fined 25,000 euros. Byrne was initially banned for two weeks but later successfully appealed against the disciplinary committee's original decision.

The Tigers, who are still awaiting the full written verdict, cannot appeal themselves and chairman Peter Tom says the club are now ready to move on.

Interested

"We registered our original complaint immediately after the match, first because it was important to determine the course of events which led to one team having 16 players on the pitch, and second because an investigation was needed to ensure that this did not happen again in the future," he said.

"The incident portrayed professional club rugby in a poor light to a large live and television audience during a high-profile fixture involving two top clubs in Europe's premier club tournament, with both sides chasing a place in the knockout stages.

"We are grateful that the investigation was completed quickly by European Rugby Cup Limited and that the disciplinary hearing was convened within seven days of our complaint.

"We will be interested to read the committee's full written verdict and its summary of the appeal decision in due course. In the meantime, we believe that the matter has been dealt with and it is now time to move on and concentrate on the rest of the season."

Comments (1)

  • Page 1 of 1
  • 1

Jonny Boy says...

Whingers, bit different now the boot is on the other foot. They didn't complain when Neil Backs hand in the scrum denied Munster the HC or when they made a sudden blood bin replacement to get another kicker on the field for the penalty shoot out against Cardiff Blues.............what goes around .........

Posted 20:27 11th February 2010
  • Page 1 of 1
  • 1

Add Comment*

Send us your views

Are you a Sky Sports subscriber?

*All fields required, your email address will be kept private