Rugby Union: Leeds go ahead with Sailor on board

LEEDS YESTERDAY carried out their threat to defy the Rugby Football Union by playing the Australian rugby league Test winger, Wendell Sailor, as an amateur in their Allied Dunbar Premiership match against Rotherham.

The RFU has rejected the club's application for a work permit because Sailor has not played international rugby union and has so far refused to accept the player's registration.

Its chief executive, Francis Baron, will rule on the issue today when Leeds - 15-10 winners over promotion-chasing Rotherham - could face the threat of points deduction. However, the Leeds chief executive, Gary Hetherington, said: "The fact that Wendell played today should not affect their decision."

A club crowd of 2,682 - more than four times this season's average - watched full-back Sateki Tuipulotu kick five penalty goals to help Leeds gain only their third League victory. "For the first time I can see that there is a business that might stack up," said Hetherington. "We've had twice the previous biggest crowd, we've had record gate receipts and record bar takings and we sold out of programmes. It was a proper rugby occasion."

Sailor, the 6ft 3in Brisbane Broncos powerhouse, had few chances to show his ability and was penalised by the referee, Graham Hughes, after coming to blows with the Rotherham full-back Mike Umaga, a fellow rugby league player.

"He sort of pushed me but the last thing I needed was a fight," said Sailor, who nevertheless enjoyed his first taste of senior rugby union. "It did feel strange out there but I enjoyed it," he said. "It's a very different game. You've got to go looking for the ball or you just get cold out there."