Sydney, Oct 31: England fined for 16 man on pitch fiasco during rugby World Cup match against Samoa.
England were fined 10,000 pounds ($17,040) and their fitness coach was suspended for two matches for temporarily having 16 players on the pitch against Samoa, World Cup officials announced on Thursday (October 30). International Rugby Board (IRB) spokesman Chris Rea read out the findings after a hearing in Sydney attended by England team members. He said the IRB's judicial officer Brian McLoughlin found England and fitness coach Dave Reddin guilty on two counts of misconduct at a four-hour hearing in Sydney. World Cup organisers released a statement saying the Rugby Football Union (RFU) and Reddin had pleaded guilty to ignoring the instructions of a match official by allowing replacement Dan Luger to run on while centre Mike Tindall was being treated for an injury. It said Reddin had "a clean record" and had apologised but there was a need "to maintain the integrity of the match officials".


The RFU responded in a statement read by director of communications, Richard Prescott: "The England squad and management accept the judgement and now look forward to the fixture against Uruguay on Sunday."


Six England officials, including coach Clive Woodward and a lawyer, left the team's training base on Queensland's Gold Coast to attend the hearing.


Luger had been instructed to wait for a break in play before replacing Tindall but ran on and pulled off a tackle before being ushered off after less than a minute.


The Samoans, who lost 35-22, were pressing hard for a late try which could have earned them a bonus point. Their coach John Boe, however, said the incident had been a minor mistake deserving no more than a reprimand.


Some media reports in Australia, however, called for England to be docked points over the incident or even stripped of the win.


A separate complaint against Reddin over an alleged altercation with match official Steve Walsh was dismissed.


Bureau Report