Exiles accuse McCullough

RUGBY:London Irish will pursue its complaint of alleged racial abuse directed against right wing Delon Armitage by Ulster secondrow Matt McCullough after last weekend's Heineken European Cup clash between the sides at Ravenhill. They officially informed tournament organisers ERC of their intent to have the matter investigated fully.

The communication was in the form of an e-mailed letter (in which the Ulster player is named), sent yesterday evening by the club to ERC. The Exiles club had conducted a series of meetings yesterday to deliberate on the preferred course of action with regard to the incident.

Last night they released the following statement: "Further to the complaint of alleged racial abuse of Delon Armitage at the Heineken Cup match at Ravenhill, Belfast last Friday evening (15th December), London Irish has considered the matter and discussed it with the player and the other parties involved.

"Delon Armitage has received a formal apology from an Ulster player for using foul and abusive language. London Irish has forwarded its version of events to ERC, the tournament organisers, and awaits their response."

Last night an ERC spokesperson said: "We will review what's in the letter and take it from there."

Ulster chief executive Michael Reid was surprised to learn of London Irish's decision last night. In conversation with an official from London Irish, Kieran McCarthy yesterday morning, Reid discussed the issue and the possibility of releasing a joint statement, which he believed had been more or less agreed. The statement would have outlined the fact McCullough apologised for his outburst but that it did not have racial overtones.

Reid confirmed: "Matt (McCullough) did use foul language towards the player (Armitage) in the heat of the moment at the end of the match but denied using any racist words or comments.

"I spoke to a number of senior (Ulster) players and am happy with the accuracy of detail provided by the player and that it was a fair account of what transpired. If I thought for one second the player, any player, had a case to answer I would come down on them like a ton of bricks. We wouldn't accept or tolerate that behaviour.

"Matt was happy to apologise for his outburst, regretted his use of foul language, but made it quite clear that he never racially abused the player. I am very surprised given my conversation with Kieran that things progressed the way they have."

London Irish director of rugby Brian Smith had been unequivocal when speaking on radio that Irish would pursue the matter, pointing out he had verbally appraised ERC chief executive Derek McGrath of the issue after the game at Ravenhill and that it would be followed up in writing.

Smith added: "There's no room for some of the nonsense that one of our players had had to put up with for two weeks in a row."

This reference is to an allegation that the two aforementioned players had clashed the previous week at the Madejski Stadium, where there was a similar incident. However, London Irish's letter only documents the alleged racial abuse following the game at Ravenhill last Friday night.

Munster flanker Alan Quinlan and Ireland qualified, New Zealand-born Calvisano secondrow Ben Gissing will learn their respective fates following disciplinary hearings at ERC headquarters in Dublin this afternoon.

Meanwhile, Perpignan have been fined €5,000 following an independent disciplinary committee hearing. A complaint of misconduct was brought by ERC regarding ticketing arrangements for the round two European Cup Pool One match against London Wasps at Stade Aime Giral on October 28 th, 2006.

The committee ruled Perpignan failed to make available to London Wasps the required ticket allocation for visiting clubs. The English outfit requested their full allocation of 15 per cent of every ticket category and Perpignan failed to make these available to Wasps.

Another French side, Toulouse, fared little better as their appeal against a €5,000 fine imposed by the ERC board of directors for a breach of the team announcement regulations in the European Cup was dismissed. The fine related to their team announcements for their round one and two matches. The committee also awarded the costs of the appeal against Toulouse.

Sale Sharks withdrew their appeal against the fine of €5,000 for a breach of the commercial rules in relation to the tournament and have agreed to pay the fine which related to their round two match against the Ospreys on Friday, October 27th.

Meanwhile, Clive Woodward yesterday insisted his future lies at the British Olympic Association in response to reports raising the possibility of a return to rugby as Wales' director of elite performance.

Woodward admitted he was "flattered" to be linked with the newly-created position at the Welsh Rugby Union but will continue with his similar role at the BOA, where he is contracted until 2012.