Rugby Union; Gloucester furious with RFU

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.