England escape with fine

England were today hit with a £10,000 fine after admitting their fault in the Rugby World Cup '16th man' fiasco - but they escaped the nightmare scenario of a points deduction.

After a judicial hearing in Sydney, fitness coach Dave Reddin was given a twomatch touchline ban for his part in the error which saw the team field an extra player for 34 seconds at the end of their match against Samoa on Sunday.

Yet the hearing, attended by a six-strong English delegation led by head coach Clive Woodward, threw out a charge of misconduct against Reddin regarding his alleged bust-up with fourth official, New Zealander Steve Walsh.

The verdict was greeted with a huge sigh of relief from the RFU, despite having being landed with the biggest ever World Cup fine. Accepting the judgement of independent judicial officer Brian McLaughlin, the England team noted their "delight" at Reddin's exoneration over the Walsh incident. And after Woodward had been forced to interrupt his preparations on the Gold Coast to make a 1,200-mile round trip to Sydney with two of his players, Andy Gomarsall and Dan Luger, the team was said to now be " looking forward" to focussing on Sunday's game against Uruguay in Brisbane.

Though Woodward made no comment after the hearing, he had earlier in the day talked of his alarm about "a very serious situation" for English rugby, admitting he would be "glad when it is all over".

Yet after three-and-a-half hours of testimony in the offices of a Sydney law firm, it was clear the English camp's only concern was that they had avoided a stiffer penalty, like a points deduction which could have spelled possible elimination from the World Cup.

The central allegation - that they had ignored the instructions of fifth official Brett Bowden by ordering Luger onto the field in the dying seconds of Sunday's clash in Melbourne - was not denied by the England camp.

Yet their legal advisor Richard Smith pleaded mitigating circumstances. "In respect of the RFU, it was taken into account that there was an apology and an acknowledgement of error but there was a specific direction given to act contrary to the instructions of a match official and a £10,000 fine was imposed," read McLaughlin's verdict.

It was acknowledged that Reddin had a clean record and had apologised. "But this was weighed against a number of factors including the fact the directions of the match official were ignored and the need to maintain the integrity of the match officials," said McLaughlin in his verdict.

Reddin will miss England's match on Sunday and their quarter-final, almost certainly against Wales, the following week. Richard Prescott, the RFU communications director said: "Dave Reddin will continue to be a valuable and well-respected member of the squad.

"The England squad and management accept the judgement and now look forward to the fixture against Uruguay on Sunday."

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