Haughton faces charge over elbow

The Wigan forward, Simon Haughton, is to appear before the disciplinary committee today on a charge of raising his elbow to Brandon Costin in the match against Bradford last Friday. Haughton was placed on report over the incident.

Bradford have had better news over two players they feared could be out for extended periods following that game. Lesley Vainikolo has torn a hamstring but could be back in three or four weeks, while Michael Withers' groin injury is not as serious as first feared and he could even play against Warrington this weekend.

The Rugby League has whittled down its shortlist of candidates for the vacant job of chief executive to four, all of whom are to be interviewed shortly with a successful applicant in place by the end of April.

The Rugby League Varsity Match will have something familiar missing next year, because today marks John Hobart's seventh and last appearance for Oxford.

The 25-year-old archaeology student, now completing his postgraduate studies, has been the fixture within the fixture since 1986, when he played in the first of a series of four defeats for the Dark Blues.

"The first one went past in a blur, but my best memories are of 2000, when we finally won one," he said. "I even scored two tries – and I never score.

"We've got a good side this year – no union Blues, but good across the board, with no real weak links," he added.

Oxford won last year as well and Hobart hopes to make it a hat-trick at Richmond tonight, but, either way, this will be his swansong. "Seven years is the limit under university regulations and apparently it is a record for league or union."

The Cambridge line up features the first player from Kazakhstan to appear in the Varsity match – Andrei Bettinson.