Citing will not rule Vickery out of Clermont rematch

Phil Vickery, the England captain, has already missed a fair bit of important rugby this year partly through his own indiscipline, partly through the overt violence of others. Yesterday, he found himself at the centre of another disciplinary palaver when the Heineken Cup authorities accused him of stamping on the France lock Thibaut Privat during Wasps' brick-hard match at Clermont Auvergne last weekend.

No date has been set for the disciplinary hearing, but the Londoners do not expect it to be held before Saturday. Vickery will, therefore, be available for the return match against Clermont, assuming he recovers from the mild illness that prevented him training with his club yesterday. If the tribunal sits next week and bans him for two or three weeks the norm for such an offence he will miss some Premiership activity either side of Christmas but be back in harness for the last two Heineken Cup pool fixtures in mid-January.

The big West Countryman found himself on the receiving end of a "time gentlemen please, that's all for tonight" punch from the Bristol prop Jason Hobson last March and missed a couple of Six Nations games as a result. Then, in Lens in September, he took it upon himself to bring down the United States centre Paul Emerick with a footballer's lunge that might have earned him a pay rise from Don Revie, and found himself banged up for a fortnight in the middle of the World Cup. It has been an interesting nine months, to be sure.

"I'm disappointed," said Ian McGeechan, the Wasps director of rugby, without explaining what he was disappointed about: Vickery's indiscretion or the decision of the match commissioner, Aurwell Morgan of Wales, to issue a citing. The incident was dealt with at the time by the referee, Alan Lewis, and that might easily have been the end of the story. But television coverage being what it is these days, controversies often drag on.

McGeechan's European champions could do without more personnel problems in the front row, given the injury status of Tom French and Pat Barnard, two of England's brighter propping prospects. But on balance he would rather have Vickery around this weekend than next. Wasps were in full-blooded mood last Saturday, yet left the Auvergne with nothing and also had to put up with a seven-hour flight delay on the way home, despite splashing out 45,000 on a private charter. For the sake of their own sanity, as well as their immediate Heineken Cup prospects, they could use a victory this weekend.

"Clermont are a good side, no question," McGeechan said yesterday. "They have no weaknesses. Indeed, they have everything in place as they bid to establish themselves in the very top rank of the French game the players, the stadium, the finance, the support. They've set out their stall as a major player in this tournament and even if we win this weekend I can see the pool going down to the wire."

McGeechan was still bemused as to how the television match official, David McHugh, awarded a profoundly dodgy try to Mario Ledesma, the Clermont hooker. He was also disappointed at the absence of a "countdown" clock at Parc des Sports Marcel-Michelin.

"It's a bit ridiculous," he said. "Players find it much easier to manage a game when they know how much time is left. We were a little nave in some of the things we did late in the game and we lost out on a bonus point because of it. But at the same time, I would have thought a countdown clock is a basic requirement in this day and age."