England ready for hearing

Tournament organisers announced on Wednesday that England had been charged with misconduct for acting against the instructions of touchline official Brett Bowden when they sent Dan Luger on to the pitch as a late replacement during Sunday's pool C game against Samoa.

Luger was to replace centre Mike Tindall, who was being treated for injury but had not left the field, and while England had 16 players Luger made a tackle before being told to leave, less than a minute after going on.

A subsequent inquiry, with which England co-operated, led to Thursday's hearing, which will held by independent judicial officer Brian McLaughlin of Ireland.

England face a second misconduct charge over the behaviour of fitness coach Dave Reddin on the touchline during the incident.

England coach Clive Woodward will attend the hearing, along with Luger, Reddin, media officer Richard Prescott and the team's legal representative Richard Smith.

With the hearing scheduled for 1800 local time (0700 GMT) and limited flights back to the Gold Coast, the delegation may have to stay in Sydney overnight -- hardly the ideal preparation for Sunday's final pool C game against Uruguay in Brisbane.

There was no official reaction from the England camp about the charge on Wednesday and reporters were banned from asking questions about it during a news conference to announce Sunday's team.

While Samoa coach John Boe and his players have said they feel the incident was a minor mistake that deserves a reprimand at most, others have not been so forgiving.

'ARROGANT POMS'

Australian forward Toutai Kefu, who is missing the World Cup with a shoulder injury, demanded that England should be stripped of the points for winning the match and that Samoa should be awarded the win.

"Arrogant Poms should be stripped," was the headline over his column in the Brisbane Courier Mail.

"Rules are rules," said Kefu. "England showed a lack of respect for the official and the whole thing smacks of arrogance."

Kefu's beliefs are at odds with Australia coach Eddie Jones, who said his team had come close to doing the same thing several times.

During the current tournament referees and touch judges have, on more than one occasion, had to tell teams to remove a player when the timing of a replacement has gone wrong, though none of the incidents have lasted as long as Luger -- around 45 seconds.