England face anxious wait over Luger incident

England face a frustrating 24-hour wait to discover whether or not they will be punished over the Dan Luger 16th-man saga.

England face a frustrating 24-hour wait to discover whether or not they will be punished over the Dan Luger 16th-man saga.

World Cup organisers say they have now received all the necessary documentation in relation to the incident. But a decision on any possible action is not expected until tomorrow (Wednesday).

A rap over the knuckles or a fine would be the probable options, yet another day's wait is hardly helping preparations for their final group game against Uruguay in Brisbane next Sunday.

"The Rugby World Cup tournament director has now received the necessary documentation in relation to England fielding an extra player during the closing stages of the match against Samoa in Melbourne on Sunday," said a statement released by RWC in Sydney.

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"A decision on any further action is expected tomorrow." World Cup chiefs must establish whether or not England deliberately ignored a match official.

Substitute Luger appeared on the pitch for around 30 seconds during England's 35-22 victory against Samoa in Melbourne two days ago. It meant that England briefly had 16 players on the pitch in second-half injury-time, and led to World Cup tournament director Fraser Neill requesting an explanation from them.

Speaking earlier today, head coach Clive Woodward pledged that England would "fully comply" with the World Cup investigation. England, meanwhile, lodged a protest against one of the match officials about what World Cup organisers termed "a related issue".

"It was an error, I can assure you, and yes, there has been an investigation," said Woodward. "I would like to think that if any team made an error like this, that there has got to be an enquiry and no more than that."

Match referee Jonathan Kaplan and the touchline official submitted reports to match commissioner Geoff Shaw, and Shaw was subsequently in contact with Neill, giving his version of events.

"I don't know how serious this enquiry is going to be, I just know the facts from our side of things," Woodward added. Samoan coaches John Boe and Michael Jones, meanwhile, have consistently said that from the South Sea Islanders' perspective, they view the matter closed and want to move on.