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| Venter could face one-month ban • Saracens coach implied Leicester had 'got at' David Rose• Venter will be charged with bringing game into disreputeThe Saracens director of rugby, Brendan Venter, will tomorrow be charged with bringing the game into disrepute for remarks he made about the referee, David Rose, after Saturday's Premiership defeat to Leicester.Venter spoke for 40 minutes in the after-match media conference about what he saw as a low standard of refereeing in England but the Rugby Football Union is likely to confine its charge to a specific remark the South African made when he implied that Rose had been got at by Leicester during the interval.His remarks have been scrutinised by the RFU's legal officer, Karena Vleck, and she will tomorrow refer the matter to the union's disciplinary officer. If he is found guilty of bringing the game into disrepute, he would face being fined and banned from having contact with his players, and the media, on match days for up to a month.Meanwhile, Stephen Jones has had a scan on his shoulder which has revealed nothing more than a sprain. The Wales fly-half injured his right shoulder against Newport Gwent Dragons on New Year's Eve but could be back to face London Irish in the Heineken Cup on Sunday week. "The injury isn't too bad and I should only be out for a couple of weeks," he said. "There are no concerns for the Six Nations."Northampton are unhappy with the scheduling of their final two Heineken Cup group matches this month, claiming they will be at a disadvantage for the potential pool decider at Munster on 22 January.The Saints entertain Perpignan on a Sunday before facing Munster, their rivals for the group title, at Thomond Park the following Friday night and the club's chief executive, Allan Robson, called the schedule unfair with Munster's first match being held on a Saturday lunchtime."To say I am disappointed is an understatement," said Robson. "Taking into account we have to travel to the away venue [Limerick] 24 hours in advance, our players will get just three days rest compared to Munster's five."In a final-round match that hardly seems fair to me and it must surely be possible to ensure that the terms are the same for both clubs."Nevertheless, the organisers have made the arrangements and we have to live with them. Sometimes the most difficult of circumstances being the best results and let's hope that the injustice is returned with a premium. We are disappointed to be playing Perpignan on a Sunday because European Cup Ltd knows the club has a massive preference for Saturday matches, but again there is nothing we can do about it."The Northampton director of rugby, Jim Mallinder, called the scheduling unsatisfactory. "Munster will have an extra day to prepare for the final game and at this stage of the season that is very important when it comes to getting a team ready for a game that could prove crucial for the outcome of our group," he said. "We are not happy about how the games have been scheduled, but that is the way the television people and ERC have done it and we have to live with it."Northampton, who have won their last nine matches in all competitions, travel to Bath on Saturday in the Guinness Premiership. The west country club served notice today that it faces problems ensuring that the pitch is fit to play on with temperatures in the city not set to rise above freezing this week.Bath have had the pitch covered since Christmas, but say that continually low temperatures will ensure the frost eventually gets through. They have asked Premier Rugby for one of the three pitch protection kits that are made available to clubs for every round of league matches.Leicester have been given one, because their game against Wasps on Saturday, which has been brought forward two hours to 3.15pm, is live on television while Sale, whose game against Wasps was lost to the weather five weeks ago, have had another for their clash with Saracens which has been switched from Friday night to Saturday lunchtime in a bid to beat the big freeze. That leaves one for the other four matches and Bath have been told they should get the kit on Thursday or Friday.The club said that if the kit arrived, there would be a good chance of the game going ahead but, with snow forecast later in the week, the outlook would be less positive if the kit was sent elsewhere. The pitch is scheduled to be inspected on Thursday morning.SaracensGuinness PremiershipLeicester TigersHeineken CupNewport Gwent DragonsNorthampton SaintsRugby unionPaul Reesguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
'It's a different year': Cowboys, Tony Romo not bound to past Two books were on the bench in front of Tony Romo's locker during a busy lunch hour this week. One was the Dallas Cowboys' playbook, including ... rssfeeds.usatoday.com |
‘Citizens initiative’ moves forward for San Francisco 49ers stadium in Santa Clara A group of civic and community leaders backed by the San Francisco 49ers submitted more than 8,000 signatures to the city of Santa Clara on Jan. 12 in their effort to get an initiative on the June ballot to build the team a new stadium. feeds.bizjournals.com |
49ers stage stadium pep rally The San Francisco 49ers will kick off their campaign to build a new 68,500-seat stadium in Santa Clara with a rally Saturday. feeds.bizjournals.com |
Manchester City set to pay £70,000 a week for Robinho to play for someone else Santos have asked Manchester City to pay about half of Robinho’s wages as they prepare to make him the highest-earning player in Brazil. feeds.timesonline.co.uk |