Hopley: Greening ruling 'dangerous'

Greening, who earned 24 caps for his country before his retirement in 2005, was ordered to pay nearly £29,000 in damages to France winger Aurelien Rougerie after the latter sustained a throat injury following a hand-off.

Former England centre Hopley, who is now dealing with the case at Greening's request, told the Daily Mail: "This is very shocking for the game. It sets a very dangerous precedent in a full contact sport. Because of that there is a bound to be widespread concern at this ruling."

He added: "Having seen a video of the incident, it was a very straightforward case of a hand-off. We called Phil as soon as we heard the news and that was the first he had heard of it (the ruling).

"He has asked us to look into it as a matter of urgency."

The incident came as Greening's Wasps side visited Clermont-Ferrand in 2002 and resulted in a civil court action against the hooker.

Rougerie, who played for France in this year's World Cup, initially sued for around £65,000 after undergoing three operations related to the injury and was awarded nearly half that sum on Friday.

Wasps chief executive Tony Copsey added: "We do not know the full implications for the sport but this would appear to set a dangerous precedent.

"Phil is an employee of the club. It's all quite unfortunate and complicated."

Rougerie's lawyer, Jean Portejoie, said: "The court has given a very strong sign. As far as I am aware this is a first for this type of affair."