Also in for the match is the West of Scotland’s captain, Guy Perrett, who takes over at lock from Jason White. Perrett has not played for the Reds since January 1999 when he dropped out of the game to concentrate on his medical studies.Jon Steel will be back on the wing as the Reds look to continue where they left off at Sardis Road after the original game between the two was abandoned because of the weather with Richie Dixon’s side leading 21-14 at half-time.. French rugby players say they are prepared to go as far as strike action to ensure their demands for the restructuring of the domestic game are met, the French sports daily L’Equipe reported yesterday. French rugby players say they are prepared to go as far as strike action to ensure their demands for the restructuring of the domestic game are met, the French sports daily L’Equipe reported yesterday.
Union representatives from some of the country’s biggest clubs met in Toulouse following France’s 48-19 defeat by England on Saturday to thrash out proposals for more rest and recovery time between matches.”We debated about things we hold dearly,” the France captain, Fabien Pelous, was quoted as saying.”We players want to do everything to boost rugby to the highest level and if we are not heard we are ready to go as far as a strike.”"The calendar has to be arranged around rest periods On that we are in agreement. We are not refusing to work, but want it to be better adapted and more coherent.”That’s the big difference with the English,” he said.The players are seeking a simplification of the French rugby championship in the six years to the 2007 World Cup.They want the French federation to produce a fixture calendar with suitable periods for match preparation and recovery.
They also want greater representation for players and coaches in discussions about the sport.”Against England, we saw that the players were suffering in their bodies and their hearts. Rugby is a sport of pride and it’s the whole of French rugby which is hit,” said Serge Simon, the head of the French players’ union, who was absent from Toulouse meeting.”The players have chosen to react The decision belongs to them. But what they have decided today in my absence proves that the union works well,” said Simon.An appeal by the former Springbok prop Cobus Visagie against a two-year ban for failing a drugs test will be heard on 19 April, the South African Rugby Football Union said yesterday. Visagie was suspended from playing by a Sarfu disciplinary committee in February following a positive test for the steroid nandrolone in October.He has vehemently protested his innocence, claiming he used only dietary supplements approved by Sarfu. The 27-year-old tight-head prop has asked for his hearing to be held in public as he attempts to clear his name.
A Sarfu spokesman said Visagie’s request would be considered.The Wallaby full-back Matthew Burke will miss the Australian Super 12 derby against the tournament favourites, ACT Brumbies, on Friday because of a hamstring injury, the New South Wales Waratahs said yesterday. The injury forced Burke to leave the field before the end of last week’s match against the Otago Highlanders in Dunedin which New South Wales lost 39-20.”It’s frustrating to have this injury with such an important game coming up,” the Waratahs captain said.. A record crowd of 12,137 witnessed Wasps leapfrog back into second place above Bath in the Zurich Premiership after an exhilarating performance ended Harlequins recent run of four unbeaten league matches at Loftus Road last night. A record crowd of 12,137 witnessed Wasps leapfrog back into second place above Bath in the Zurich Premiership after an exhilarating performance ended Harlequins recent run of four unbeaten league matches at Loftus Road last night.
Harlequins were not shamed, but they were outclassed and outrun when it mattered. It did not help that Wasps got off to a thunderous start with three tries in 14 minutes; for Quins it was a thunderous finish, with full-back Ben Gollings’ scoring a great solo effort after chipping, chasing and grabbing an awkward bounce for the touchdown. But Wasps had already done enough, beginning with Paul Sampson’s brilliantly taken try in the 6th minute.
The full-back sliced right and opened up the defence for his 12th Premiership try of the season and his 14th in all competitions this year for the club.Their second one was the pick of the bunch though. It featured Lawrence Dallaglio twice as Wasps surged upfield in enthralling fashion. Worsley and Leota also did their bit while scrum-half Martyn Wood’s superb service guaranteed rapid recycling at every phase. Alex King got the final touch and the stand-off then helped set up Will Green for the third try.There was a brief lull before Wasps banked their fourth and with it the bonus point in the 31st minute when wing Josh Lewsey was sent in by King down the right after more great work from the forwards. Kenny Logan, who converted the first three, missed this kick.Harlequins looked useful when managed to counter, employing the monstrous proportions of their lock Garrick Morgan to great effect. Sadly he lacked vital support after trampling wide paths through the cover; at times his yellow scrumcap looked more like a lifeboatman’s sou’wester in a sea of confusion.Morgan finally got his reward after Quins strung together a spell of intense pressure which culminated in scrum-half Matthew Powell popping up the ball for the former Wallaby front rower to crash over. Their second followed on the stroke of half-time when prop Adrian Olver was driven over from a close range line-out.