Club threatens with court action

Newbridge rugby club has threatened the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) with court action, saying say they are ready to fight a 16-weeks ban imposed on loose forward Geraint Gladwyn.

Gladwyn this week lost his appeal against the ban imposed by the WRU for allegedly stamping on a player's head.

The club said it has consulted expert legal opinion and chairman Idris McCarthy told the South Wales Argus they have decided they have no option but to take this case all the way.

"There has definitely been a miscarriage of justice and for the player's sake and for the sake of others who might find themselves in a similar situation, we cannot take this lying down," McCarthy told the newspaper.

"We were optimistic the ban would be overturned as the so-called evidence, we are convinced, would be thrown out in a court of law."

Gladwyn's ban followed a series of events after a team-mate had been sent off in a Welsh Premier Division game earlier this season.

Subsequently the WRU accepted the player had been the victim of a case of mistaken identity and Gladwyn was summoned before the disciplinary committee allegedly as the guilty party.

Newbridge claimed at the hearing that video evidence did not identify Gladwyn and that there was no deliberate stamping, but the committee decided otherwise.

Newbridge appealed and their case was put by a solicitor at a hearing this week, but the appeal was turned down.

"If I thought there had been any deliberate stamping we would not have pursued the case," added McCarthy, "but any reasonable person watching the video evidence would, I am convinced, agree there is no case to answer."

As a result of the ban, Gladwyn will miss 18 matches for Newbridge, who are struggling in the Welsh Premier Division relegation zone.