Sporting Digest: Rugby Union

THE South African Supreme Court has overturned the season-long ban on the Western Province prop Garry Pagel for raking the face of the French captain, Jean-Francois Tordo, in a tour match two weeks ago. Pagel, who claimed that the South African union had not given him a fair hearing due to pressure to pacify the French tourists, will be allowed to play until a further disciplinary hearing next Wednesday.

TOMMY BEDFORD, the former Natal and Springbok captain, will organise coaching at Oxford next season.