Scotland yesterday appointed Gordon Bulloch as their captain for next month's internationals in place of the injured Scott Murray, but they could be without last season's skipper Chris Paterson for Saturday week's Test against Australia at Murrayfield.
Paterson is one of three Edinburgh players who have been cited by Perpignan after the Heineken Cup group match at the Stade Aimé Giral on Friday night. The fly-half has been accused of punching the Perpignan captain Bernard Goutta. If found guilty, he would face a two-week suspension, which would rule him out of contention for the Wallabies match.
Joining Paterson in the dock at a disciplinary hearing yet to be arranged will be the back-rower Allister Hogg, who has been cited for unsportsmanlike behaviour, and the wing Craig Joiner, who will answer a charge of kicking.
Perpignan took the action despite running out comprehensive 23-0 winners, mindful of the fact that last season five of their players were cited by Wasps after a bruising encounter.
Edinburgh face Newport Gwent Dragons at Murrayfield this weekend, where the visitors will have the South Africa full-back Percy Montgomery in their ranks. He has been at home preparing for the Springboks' tour to Europe, which starts against Wales next week, and will rejoin his region on Thursday.
South Africa, along with their Tri-Nations partners Australia and New Zealand, will find out today whether they will suffer a big drop in income after the renegotiation of their television deal with Rupert Murdoch's News Ltd. The current contract, which is worth £36m a year, runs out in 14 months and the three unions have added extra matches to the Tri-Nations and enlarged the Super 12 by two teams in an attempt to sweeten the deal.
The unions are worried that if the value of the contract drops they will have difficulty holding on to their leading players in the face of offers from clubs in England and France, with New Zealand last week offering a number of out-of-contract players only one-year extensions.
If News Ltd puts appreciably less money on the table, the trio have nowhere to turn. The only way they could make up the shortfall would be to increase contact with the northern hemisphere: that could mean an attempt to entice France and England away from the Six Nations.
