Ireland flanker Denis Leamy was cited for stamping during the opening round of the Six Nations while captain Brian O'Driscoll was spared on Monday.
Leamy allegedly stood on Italy scrumhalf Paul Griffin on Saturday in Ireland's 26-16 victory. Facing a ban of up to 12 months, his case will be heard today in London.
O'Driscoll was accused of stamping on hooker Fabio Ongaro by Italy coach Pierre Berbizier, but the incident was not mentioned by match commissioner Rob Flockhart, and the star center will be free to lead Ireland against France on Saturday.
Flockhart was also still trying to find evidence of a claim that an unnamed Italian player bit Simon Easterby.
Meanwhile, shoulder injuries have ruled out England fullback Josh Lewsey and scrumhalf Peter Richards from playing Italy next weekend, and Wales and British Lions scrumhalf Gareth Cooper probably for the rest of the season.
France coach Bernard Laporte also reacted to his side's stunning loss to Scotland by adding six experienced players to his squad, including 83-cap flanker Olivier Magne.
Lewsey will miss his first match for England since the 2003 World Cup, after he was hurt in the first minute of the 47-13 defeat of Wales last Saturday.
An exam revealed no structural damage to the ACL joint and he could be sidelined for only two weeks. Leicester winger Tom Varndell was called into the 31-man squad as his replacement.
Bristol scrumhalf Shaun Perry replaced Richards.
"Apart from the injury we've got with Josh, I'm not really going to make any changes," England coach Andy Robinson said.
"We must focus on beating Italy because everything will be wasted if we don't put another big performance in. Rome is a tough place to go and Italy are always hard to play against," Robinson said.
Lin Yun-ju on Thursday handed Taiwan two key victories as they advanced to the semi-finals of the ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships Finals in London. The Taiwan men’s table tennis team beat Sweden 3-2 in five singles matches. The 24-year-old Lin, Taiwan’s top-ranked player at world No. 7 and nicknamed the “Silent Assassin,” opened the tie by defeating world No. 2 Truls Moregard 3-0 (11-8, 11-9, 13-11) before clinching the deciding fifth match with a 3-0 (11-8, 11-9, 11-5) win over Anton Kallberg to hand his team the overall victory. Kuo Guan-hong put Taiwan up 2-0 with a 3-2 (4-11, 11-8, 8-11,
Marta Kostyuk’s maiden WTA 1000 title in Madrid came on Saturday thanks to her power, poise and a pair of unexpected lucky shorts. The world No. 23 beat eighth-ranked Mirra Andreeva 6-3, 7-5 in under 90 minutes to secure the most prestigious trophy of her career, her third professional singles title and second in less than a month after Rouen. Yet as the 23-year-old Ukrainian posed for photographs at the Caja Magica, it was not just the silverware that caught the eye. Held alongside her team and her two dogs, Kostyuk showed off a piece of black men’s underwear, prompting
Arsenal stormed six points clear at the top of the English Premier League as Bukayo Saka and Viktor Gyokeres put Fulham to the sword in a 3-0 win, while West Ham United’s defeat at Brentford offered Tottenham Hotspur a lifeline in the battle for survival. The Gunners have stumbled toward the finish line in their quest for a first league title in 22 years, blowing a sizeable lead over Manchester City in a series of nervous displays. However, the return of Saka, making his first start in six weeks, freed up Mikel Arteta’s men in a dominant performance that shrugged
China’s Wu Yize on Monday won the World Snooker Championship for the first time with a dramatic 18-17 victory over Shaun Murphy in the final. Wu held his nerve to seal his thrilling triumph in a tense last frame shoot-out at Sheffield’s Crucible Theatre. The 22-year-old is the second Chinese player to win the world title after Zhao Xintong beat Mark Williams to make history as the first Asian to lift the trophy last year. Wu is also the second-youngest player to be crowned world champion at the Crucible after Stephen Hendry, who was 21 when he won in 1990. “I have been trying