Catt aims to impress English with Irish

Mike Catt yesterday insisted his move to London Irish after 12 years at Bath does not signal an end to his England career.

The England international utility back did not feature in the 60-man elite training squad named by Clive Woodward, but the 32-year-old is adamant that he is still fit and hungry enough to make a telling contribution for club and country.

"I've been excluded for the past four years so you can never say never," said Catt, who has signed a two-year contract.

"I've had a chat with Clive and he's said that if I concentrate on the Irish thing and it goes well there's a chance I could get called back in."

The club's director of rugby, Gary Gold, admits the club intend "to look after Mike as much as we possibly can" and will regard it as a bonus if he starts more than 60 per cent of the club's league games.

London Irish, who recently became only the third club in England to report a trading profit after losing £1.4 million in the 2002-2003 season, intend to play Catt at inside centre and there is already a Twickenham date in his diary on Saturday week when the Premiership season opens with a double-header there: London Irish v Harlequins and Saracens v Wasps.

Meanwhile, a final warning went out last night to the England management team as Twickenham's chief disciplinary officer, Jeff Blackett, described their record over the past 12 months as "possibly a cause for concern".

Blackett this week ruled Woodward should not face disciplinary action for remarks he made in New Zealand last June after the sending-off of the second-row Simon Shaw.

The outburst was the fourth controversial incident since last August, also involving kit technicians Dave Tennison and John Pennycuick, and the fitness coach Dave Reddin.

"Another breach of the code of conduct will be dealt with," said Blackett, "but in the case of Sir Clive I did not feel, after listening to the recording of the press conference sent to me by the International Rugby Board, that there was a case for convening a disciplinary committee.

"It is vital for all concerned that a lid is kept on things from now on, and we will be watching. The zero-tolerance policy remains," said Blackett, who did not expect the New Zealand Rugby Union to lodge a complaint after Woodward's exoneration, although its chief executive, Chris Moller, said last month he would wait to see what Twickenham did before deciding whether to take further action.

"I have spoken to Steve Tew (Moller's deputy) and he was adamant that New Zealand had not made a complaint," Blackett added. "The matter should have been dealt with at the time under the tour agreement, and I stressed that point to him."

Twickenham officials will today meet a consortium looking to take over the Rotherham club. A group of businessmen, led by the club's former scrum-half Alan McHale, has raised more than £500,000, less than one-third of the total debt, with the players agreeing to take substantial pay cuts.