Furious Bourgoin demand switch of EEC final; Racing target
Steyn out for weeks
05 May
2009
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Francois Steyn: Out of action
for up to eight weeks
Photo: Michael Paler |
Top 14
side Bourgoin are demanding a change of venue after
Gloucester's Kingsholm was chosen to host their
European Challenge Cup final clash
with Northampton Saints.
The
irate French club are also angry that the final has been
scheduled for a Friday - rather than Saturday - leading to
potential travel chaos for their fans, who would have to
take a ay of work and brave the westbound motorway system at
peak hours.
Bourgoin
also argued that France should host the final as it had been
held in England for the past eight seasons.
"Our
disappointment is clearly immense," said a club statement.
"The final will take place less than a week after a decisive
[Top 14] match against Brive. Our supporters are forced to
make a long, complex and costly trip on a Friday.
"And
Gloucester is situated less than 150 kilometres from
Northampton - the fans of our opponents couldn't ask for
much more. It is also the ninth successive final to take
place in England."
The
statement claimed there was a "clear lack of equality which
is heavily prejudicial to our club" an have now asked for
support in their case from the Federation Francais de Rugby
(FFR), the Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR) and the ERC, the
organisers of of the EEC and the Heineken Cup.
"We are asking the ERC to reassess this
shocking decision, to say the least, as soon as possible and
with full attention," added the club statement.
European Challenge Cup - Pool results
and tables
And it
seems the Kingsholm choice hasn't found favour with
Northampton either, with director of rugby Neil Mallinder
saying the limited capacity of 16,000 was not big enough to
meet supporter demand.
Elsewhere, Racing-Metro 92 target Francois Steyn is
likely to be out of action for between six to eight weeks,
and could now miss the Springboks' series against the
British and Irish Lions.
Steyn
will definitely miss the remainder of the current Super 14
series after injuring knee ligaments during the Sharks'
weekend game against New Zealand's Highlanders.
"We are
awaiting the results of the scan, but Francois is likely to
be out for six to eight weeks," said Sharks coach John
Plumtree.
Racing
recently clinched promotion to Top 14 and had been hoping to
unveil Steyn - who can play at fly-half or in the centres -
as their latest big-name signing,
alongside Sebastien Chabal and Lionel
Nallet.
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