Ospreys charged over fielding 16 players against Leicester Tigers

The organisers of the Heineken Cup today charged the Ospreys, and their Wales full-back, Lee Byrne, with misconduct after Leicester complained that the Welsh regions had 16 players on the field for some 50 seconds during the match between the sides in Swansea last Saturday. Roger O'Connor, European Rugby Cup Ltd's disciplinary officer, filed the charge after spending two days gathering evidence from the two sides and the match officials on duty at the Liberty Stadium. He also viewed video footage of the incident which happened in the last quarter when the Ospreys were leading by five points. A three-man disciplinary panel will hear the case in Dublin on Friday. Leicester have asked for the match to be replayed, arguing that Byrne prevented a potential try from being scored by getting in the way of their scrum-half, Ben Youngs. England were fined for having an extra man on the field during their 2003 World Cup match against Samoa, but a misconduct charge carries an open-ended list of sanctions. It is what Harlequins and four individuals, including Dean Richards and Tom Williams, were hit with after the fake blood substitution in their Heineken Cup quarter-final against Leinster last April and Quins faced being thrown out of the tournament. Wales will wait for the outcome with concern. If Byrne is banned, he faces missing the opening Six Nations match against England at Twickenham.