Rugby Union; Gloucester furious with RFU
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Gloucester have accused the Rugby Football Union of "steamroller" tactics after being forced to scrap a prestige game with Western Samoa.
Club officials have had to cancel the attractive match with the touring side - scheduled for 22 November - following an RFU decision to squeeze a further three divisional games into a packed fixture list.
"The RFU have streamrollered this divisional stuff through," an angry Gloucester RFC board member, John Hall, said. "We could end up with six or eight divisional games altogether and lose our players for five or six weeks of what is already a packed season."
The Board chairman, David Foyle, said the Western Samoa game was only agreed last week and the three additional divisional games - on 20, 24 and 28 November - were totally unexpected. "They have come out of the blue," he said. "In the circumstances we thought it was best for the players, supporters and tourists if we pulled out of the match."
Australia's centre and vice-captain, Tim Horan, has a suspected broken nose and will miss tomorrow's tri-series Test against New Zealand in Brisbane.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments