The Champions Cup organisers have confirmed Bath have signalled their intentions to request formally that last week’s defeat by Toulouse is replayed in what represents a remarkable course of action from the West Country club.
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Bath have informed European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR) they want last weekend’s 22-20 defeat to be chalked off and the match played again with the competition organisers waiting on an official letter from the club before taking any decision.
In an unprecedented move the club feels justified for doing so because, according to the match clock shown on television screens, there were still a few seconds to go before the referee, Andrew Brace, blew for full-time, denying Bath an attacking lineout in a promising position.
Bath also believe that, because two Toulouse players – Jerome Kaino and Lucas Pointud – have since had citing complaints against them upheld, the French side should have been down to 13 men.
Kaino was shown a yellow card for striking Jamie Roberts with his shoulder and has subsequently been banned for five weeks. Pointud was cited for striking Nathan Catt and has been suspended for four weeks but he stayed on the field after the incident. Toulouse for their part are appealing against Kaino’s suspension.
Bath ultimately lost a thrilling contest by two points when Freddie Burns made a colossal error in failing to score the match-winning try in the dying stages. Burns had started to celebrate the try early but was caught unawares by Maxime Médard just as he was about to touch the ball down under the posts. Todd Blackadder, the Bath director of rugby, has kept faith with Burns for Saturday’s Champions Cup match against Wasps and even selected him at fly-half with Rhys Priestland sidelined for up to eight weeks with a knee injury. Roberts is ruled out, however, by the head injury suffered as a result of Kaino’s tackle.
Meanwhile Christian Wade is believed to be buying himself out of his Wasps contract in order to facilitate his planned pursuit of a career in NFL. News of Wade’s shock move emerged on Thursday night and, while the club has refused to confirm Wade’s departure for the US, it is believed the 27-year-old has played his last game of rugby union.
A club statement released on Friday night said: “The club are aware of speculation regarding the future of Christian Wade. Unfortunately we are unable to make any comment at this time but hope to be able to provide an update in the coming days.”
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Wade is again absent from the Wasps team named to face Bath on Saturday and his player profile was temporarily removed from the club’s website on Friday. While Wade’s decision comes as a bolt from the blue it is believed he has been mulling it over for some time. He spent time with the renowned speed coach Steve Gonzalez, who has worked with a host of NFL players, in New Jersey over the summer and it is understood that he was approached by NFL scouts last year about a possible move.
He is not the first rugby player to attempt to make the switch to NFL and he follows in the footsteps of his former England age-grade captain Alex Gray, who is currently with the Atlanta Falcons.
The former Worcester lock Christian Scotland-Williamson is on the books of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Ben Te’o has given Eddie Jones a boost after he was named on Worcester’s bench for their Challenge Cup match against the Ospreys n Saturday. Te’o has been sidelined since missing England’s summer tour of South Africa with quadriceps and calf injuries but is set for a first appearance of the season before Jones takes his autumn internationals squad to Portugal next week for a warm-weather training camp.