Greening's Heineken Cup eligibility sting for Wasps

No self-respecting rugby competition is now complete without its eligibility rumpus, so it seems only right and proper that the Heineken Cup should enter into the spirit of things. Tournament organisers yesterday confirmed that Phil Greening, the England hooker, would not be permitted to play for Wasps in their quarter-final at Northampton on Sunday. Greening has therefore achieved the remarkable feat of getting himself cup-tied while still awaiting his first European appearance of the campaign.

When Greening joined Wasps from Sale last month, the thought of an all-English tie in front of a full house at Franklin's Gardens must have set his competitive juices flowing in torrents. He must now think again. In their wisdom, the board of European Rugby Cup Ltd has decreed that, because he was registered by Sale for this season's second-tier European Shield competition, he is ineligible for Continental activity in any other capacity. The fact that he did not take the field in any of Sale's matches against Pau, Perpignan or Caerphilly matters not a jot.

Predictably, Wasps are feeling rather put out; Nigel Melville, their director of rugby, made a late challenge for the understatement of the year award yesterday when he described the decision as "disappointing".

Fortunately, the Londoners have the services of Trevor Leota, their spherical Samoan, available to them and it seems likely that Melville will stick with the starting line-up that blew away Bristol in the Tetley's Bitter Cup semi-final on Saturday.

On a similar topic, one of the serious French contenders, Stade Français, have narrowly avoided committing a second eligibility faux pas of their own by registering the Samoan wing, Brian Lima, as one of two additional players for this Saturday's tie with Munster in Limerick. The Parisians played the then unregistered Lima in their pool defeat by Leinster in Dublin shortly before Christmas - a move that nearly caused them to be thrown out of the tournament, despite the fact that his appearance had been personally sanctioned by Jean-Pierre Lux, the ERC chairman.

Understandably confused, club officials then forgot about Lima's unresolved status and prepared to add two rookies, the full-back Jeremy Foissac and the scrum-half Sylvain Jonnet, to their squad for the knock-out stages. Fortunately, they were advised of their oversight and Stade now have their paperwork in order.

Worryingly for last year's semi-finalists, serious problems have arisen elsewhere. Thomas Lombard, their international centre, will miss the rest of the season after suffering a bad knee injury in last month's domestic victory over La Rochelle, while Christophe Dominici is unlikely to make the Limerick date because he, too, is struggling with knee trouble.

Meanwhile, Tim Horan, the great Wallaby centre, will retire from international rugby at the end of this summer's Tri-Nations series. Bristol, linked with Horan a year ago, will head the English Premiership stampede for his services.