RUGBY UNION IN BRIEF
Bath trio fail in ban appeals
FORMER Bath co-captains Michael Lipman and Alex Crockett yesterday failed in their attempt to have their nine-month bans for missed drugs tests overturned.
The pair were suspended for failing to undertake tests when Bath launched an investigation into allegations of misconduct by a number of players. Both have since resigned from the club.
A third player, Andrew Higgins, was also banned but has retired from the game.
A Rugby Football Union panel took just under two hours to reach their decision at a hearing in London.
Robson faces headbutt ban
HARLEQUINS lock George Robson faces a minimum four-week ban after being charged with headbutting Wasps’ Joe Simpson in Saturday’s 26-15 defeat at Twickenham.
Robson was sent off after just 46 seconds of the match and now faces a Rugby Football Union disciplinary panel.
If found guilty, Robson faces a four-week ban, but that could rise to as much as two years if the offence is deemed serious enough.
The incident represents the worst possible start to the Premiership season for Harlequins, whose name was dragged through the mud this summer with the ‘bloodgate scandal’.
Vainikolo has charge dropped
GLOUCESTER’S Lesley Vainikolo has had a charge of grievous bodily harm with intent dropped against him as he faces trial for allegedly attacking a man outside a nightclub.
The 30-year-old former rugby league star will now only stand trial at Bristol Crown Court for the remaining count of causing GBH.
Vainikolo was charged following an incident in Manvers Street in Bath on October 26 last year, in which a man was taken to hospital with serious head injuries.