O'Sullivan accuses Scots of serious foul play

Ireland coach Eddie O'Sullivan claimed a Scottish player deliberately choked fly-half Ronan O'Gara during today's hard fought win at Murrayfield.

O'Sullivan revealed O'Gara needed treatment from Ireland's team doctor after losing consciousness during the incident which took place shortly before the final whistle.

He said: "There was an incident on the ground when someone tried to choke O'Gara. Someone had their arm around his neck, cut off his air supply and he went blue. I'd rather not say who it was.

"I believe it was deliberate, putting your hand around someone's neck and trying to choke them is hard to do by accident.

"I didn't see it because I'm sat in the stands like everyone else and he was at the bottom of a ruck with people on top of him.

"When the ruck broke up Ronan had gone blue and was losing consciousness. The doctor came on, checked his air supply was clear and he started breathing again. It's an unfortunate incident but it happened."

O'Sullivan revealed he will not be making any recommendations to the citing officer as replays prove inconclusive.

He said: "It's very difficult to cite anyone because the incident wasn't on TV and unless the guy puts up his hand nothing is going to happen. The citing commissioner can ask a question or two but there's nothing to cite - you have to see it to sight it.

"Nothing will come of it because there's no evidence."

He continued: "If you want to find out who did it, you'll need to go to the Scottish dressing room. I'm just saying what happened. They're all honourable fellas and one of them will put their hands up. It was totally out of character with the game."

Several flashpoints erupted during the match but Brian O'Driscoll, who was himself warned by referee David Pearson for an off-the-ball incident, insisted it was not a malicious encounter.

The Ireland captain said: "I didn't see the incident because I wasn't anywhere near the ruck but I heard from some of the boys about what went on.

"Ronan is okay now, just a little shaken up. It's not a nice situation to find yourself vulnerable on a rugby pitch. It's happened to me once and it's not a nice feeling. I'm sure Ronan would rather forget all about.

"You get games where there's an extra bit of bite but there was nothing malicious about this match. There was nothing untoward until that point. People were giving as good as they were getting. It was an isolated incident."

Scotland responded to the allegation by denying any wrongdoing by any of their players.

A spokesman said: "We refute any allegation of foul play made after the match."

Ireland will assess the fitness of O'Driscoll (shoulder) and Gordon D'Arcy (bumps and bruises) tomorrow with both centres receiving treatment on the pitch.