Bath trio determined to clear names

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The three players terminated their contracts on Monday immediately before they were due to appear at a club disciplinary hearing, accused of refusing to take a drugs test on three different occasions.

Lipman, Crockett and Higgins issued a joint statement through their solicitor denying they had refused to provide a sample and vowing to clear their names, saying: "It has been suggested in sections of the media that we have either missed or refused on three occasions to provide samples for anti-doping purposes. This is simply untrue. During the course of the last few weeks it has become clear to us that our position within the club has been made untenable."

It added: "Anonymous sources have also made allegations against us to the club. We completely refute these allegations, which are both false and defamatory.

"We believe that these scurrilous and unsubstantiated allegations are not only proving to be damaging to our own careers but to rugby as a whole. Regrettably, for legal reasons we are unable to comment further at this stage although what we can say is that we will do everything possible in order to clear our names.

"It is with tremendous regret that we announce that, as a result of the club's actions, we have no option but to terminate our contracts with Bath Rugby with immediate effect.

"We have made every effort to work with the club to resolve our differences. Sadly, we have been unable to do so."

Bath have been conducting an internal investigation into allegations linked to drug use and fighting at an end-of-season celebration in London on May 10.

Bath have now lost five of their senior players due to off-field matters in the space of just three months. Lipman and Crockett were Bath's co-captains this season.