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Tigers may take legal action over Ospreys for White slur
Sam Peters27 Jan 2009
Leicester are considering taking legal action against the Ospreys after the Welsh team wrongly accused England international Julian White of eye-gouging one of their players.
Ospreys coaches Sean Holley and Jonathan Humphreys both claimed White had been directly responsible for a number of incidents in Saturday's ill-tempered Heineken Cup clash at the Liberty Stadium.
But it emerged last night that match commissioner Denis Templeton has instead cited ex-England skipper Martin Corry for allegedly "striking or making contact with the eye area" of Ospreys hooker Richard Hibbard.
The Tigers are furious that Holley and Humphreys saw fit to jump to conclusions, with one club insider saying: "It is totally unacceptable to make accusations like that without any evidence. We're considering our position but Julian is not happy."
Tigers head coach Richard Cockerill had a heated exchange with Holley after the game and the pair had to be separated by an Ospreys official.
Flanker Corry, one of the most respected figures in English rugby, now faces a minimum three-month ban if he is found guilty of the offence, which carries a maximum two-year sentence.
Northampton flanker Neil Best received an 18-week ban last October for gouging Wasps' back-row forward James Haskell.
White's innocence is welcome news for England manager Martin Johnson, who until yesterday was facing the prospect of losing a second tighthead prop in the space of a week following Matt Stevens positive test for cocaine.
White will join up with England's training squad in Portugal tomorrow.
London Irish head coach Toby Booth has praised Steffon Armitage after the uncapped flanker was called up by England as a replacement for Lewis Moody, who has a broken ankle.
The 23-year-old younger brother of current England full-back Delon has been in superb form for the Exiles this season and is set to wear the No7 shirt against Italy in 11 days' time with Mike Lipman struggling with concussion.
If the pair do line up together against Italy at Twickenham they will become the first set of brothers to play for England since Rory and Tony Underwood 14 years ago. "Steffon is the form No7 in the Premiership," said Booth.
Reader views (2)
I suspect if the Tigers are involved in legal action, it would be as backers for Mr White who may well feel aggrieved at having been disparaged in his business, trade, profession or calling (that of a professional rugby player).
The fact that some other Leicester player was cited and may (or may not) be found guilty of the offence is of no consequence to Mr White. He was the one accused, it now appears in error, so he has the grievance.
- James, Cardiff, 27/01/2009 14:35
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Wait - what damage have Leicester suffered from this allegation? One of their players has been cited for gouging, just not the player the Ospreys identified. Leicester as a team are just as culpable for Corry's behaviour (if proved) as they are for White's.
- Nick Evans, London, 27/01/2009 12:12
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