• Heineken Cup

Ospreys to face misconduct charges

Lee Byrne was taken off as a blood injury on Saturday © Getty Images

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European Rugby Cup disciplinary officer Roger O'Connor has made misconduct complaints against Lee Byrne and the Ospreys following the controversial fielding of a 16th man in their Heineken Cup victory over Leicester Tigers last weekend.

Byrne returned to the field early following a blood injury, allowing the Ospreys a man advantage as a break from Leicester scrum-half Ben Youngs was thwarted. Now both player and club will face charges in Dublin on Friday January 29.

Referee Alan Lewis was furious with home officials but did not grant Leicester a penalty after he was informed of the mismatch, instead signalling for play to continue once the numbers had been evened up.

Leicester were dumped out of Europe as a result of their defeat and reacted furiously to the irregularity. They filed an official written complaint with ERC and also hired a sports law firm to represent them as they seek a replay. England were fined £10,000 as a result of a similar offence against Samoa at the 2003 Rugby World Cup.

"The Leicester Tigers board of directors have reviewed the footage of Saturday's Heineken Cup Pool 3 game against Ospreys and believe there is a clear case for concern," said a club statement. "The board has a duty to the club and the other teams in the competition to do everything in their power to help ERC to determine, as fully and speedily as possible, who was responsible for a 16th player being on the pitch.

"To that end, the club have lodged an official written complaint with ERC which they are now in the process of investigating. Everyone at the club is totally committed to supporting the investigation in any way they can."

The Ospreys will have to sweat over a possible points deduction or fine after booking a quarter-final place as a best runner up, while Byrne will be hoping that no ban follows with Wales' Six Nations campaign set to kick-off against England at Twickenham on February 6.

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