Best out for 18 weeks after gouging ban is upheld

The Northampton and Ireland flanker Neil Best's appeal against an 18-week suspension for eye-gouging was dismissed last night by a Rugby Football Union panel.

The 29-year-old remains suspended until 27 January, 2009. The ban covers eight rounds of Guinness Premiership action, all of Northampton's European Challenge Cup and EDF Energy Cup pool matches plus Ireland's autumn schedule.

Best was suspended last Wednesday after admitting he had "made contact with the eye or eye area" of the Wasps flanker James Haskell during Saints' 24-20 victory at Franklin's Gardens. It was only Best's third game for the club following his summer move from Ulster.

The RFU panel accepted Best had not searched for Haskell's eye, but it did not agree with Best's account that contact with Haskell's eye had been "fleeting" and described his actions as "grave".

The Worcester prop Chris Horsman has been charged with kicking his Harlequins opposite number Mike Ross. The Wales international was cited by independent officer Rob Hardwick after the Warriors' 30-23 home defeat last week. Horsman will appear before a three-man RFU disciplinary panel in Bristol on Thursday.

Danny Cipriani is convinced that Wasps will start their Heineken Cup challenge with a bang – after taking a rocket from the club's coach, Shaun Edwards. Wasps head into European action against Castres on Sunday, having suffered five defeats from six games. The usually watertight Wasps defence has leaked an average of 24 points per match and Edwards pulled no punches in his assessment of their performances. "Shaun has hit home with a few truths and made a few points clear to some of the guys," Cipriani said. "We needed it and it needed to be said. He will make sure that when we take the field on Sunday it will be the Wasps of old."

It is not the easiest of environments for Cipriani to slot back into as he continues his comeback from a gruesome ankle injury. But the 20-year-old England fly-half is ready to play a full 80 minutes against Castres.

"Castres are one of the best teams in France and as a team we have got to come together and move on," he said. "This weekend we are going to see a different side because I can feel things coming together. We will be more aggressive, we will run harder and we will have that edge that we lacked. It is about time we stand up and make our fans proud."

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