Super 14
Lipman demands ARU meeting
Scrum.com
March 8, 2010
Bath captain Michael Lipman, September 27 2008.
Michael Lipman has demanded a meeting with ARU chiefs © Getty Images
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Michael Lipman has demanded a meeting with Australian Rugby Union (ARU) chiefs after his proposed move to the Melbourne Rebels was blocked.

The former England and Bath flanker, who possesses an Australian passport, has recently completed a nine-month worldwide ban for missing drugs tests.

The door appeared to be open for Lipman, 30, to follow Wasps fly-half Danny Cipriani to the Rebels, who are permitted to have up to 10 foreign players in their squad for their 2011 admittance to Super Rugby, but the move has reportedly been blocked by the ARU.

The Australian alleged that Lipman, who cannot represent the Wallabies due to his England caps, does not meet the "range of criteria" set out for overseas signings.

Lipman's former team-mates, Alex Crockett and Andrew Higgins, were also banned for failing to submit to tests but all three were cleared of drug taking at the outset of the disciplinary process last summer.

Lipman's anger will doubtless be increased by the fact that Justin Harrison, another former team-mate who was banned after admitting to taking cocaine, is rebuilding his career in the Super 14 with the Brumbies.

"I'd personally like to have a meeting with [ARU chief executive] John O'Neill and [ARU high performance manager] David Nucifora and have a chat with them about this," he said. "It's my life. It's my career. I don't want to say I'm thinking of giving up but it has crossed my mind."

Rebels coach Rod Macqueen insisted that Lipman had the character they were looking for, but it remains unclear whether there will be an appeal of the decision.

"We want to have a side that has good character and we've talked very much about culture so we didn't take the position lightly about talking to Michael and we've spoken to a number of people about that and got some very good character references back," Macqueen told The Age.

"The fact that he was captain gives to me an indication of the esteem he was held in. I'm not going to go into the situation of his suspension but we were satisfied from our perspective that he was the right character for the Melbourne team."

The Rebels have also been heavily linked with Gloucester's Wales No.8 Gareth Delve and Bath's Australian openside Julian Salvi.

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