THERE was another twist in the London Irish provinces saga yesterday when it was learned that the five London Irish players who have opted to play for their provinces in the European Cup and not the club in the European Conference are dually registered.
The London Irish club has registered the five players, Gabriel Fulcher, Jeremy Davidson, David Humphreys, Victor Costello and Malcolm O'Kelly with ERC (European Rugby Cup), the body that runs both the cup and conference.
The players have also been registered with their provinces in accordance with the laws governing the competition. The laws are specific in that no player can play for more than one club or one province in the competitions and cannot, of course, play in both. Ideally, too, a player should only be registered by one entity, club or province.
Roger Pickering, the tournament director of ERC, was yesterday seeking clarification from the provinces and London Irish about the dual registrations of those players and some others.
"A player should only be registered with one club or one province. As of now there are some players who are registered with clubs and also with their provinces. I am contacting those concerned on the issue in an effort to clarify the position and to find out for whom the players concerned are going to play.
"If there is no clarification before the clubs and provinces play then we must take it that once a player plays for a club or province that is a commitment and there is no way that player can play for any other club or province in either competition."
In addition to the five London Irish players who decided earlier this week to play for their provinces, other London Irish players such as Robert Henderson, Niall Woods, Barry Walsh, Gary Halpin and Liam Mooney were all registered with their provinces and have now also been registered with London Irish.
But they have given their commitment to London Irish and have not been chosen nor will they be chosen by the provinces. I understand that the Northampton players, Jonathan Bell and Allan Clarke, have been registered by their club and had also been registered by Ulster. But Northampton, who compete in the Conference, have refused their release and they will not be chosen by Ulster.
London Irish yesterday submitted their team to play against Swansea in the Conference to ERC and the side does not include any of the five players who have opted for their provinces, but Halpin and Henderson are included in the side.
The Irish provinces will play the five players concerned at the weekend and are happy about the legality of the players.
. The Scottish rugby union announced yesterday that 36 players had signed professional contracts. But, among a small list of top players who have not signed up, are record cap Scott Hastings, winger Ken Logan and promising out half Duncan Hodge.
