The Wales No8 Andy Powell is looking for the seventh club of his career after being released by Wasps following an internal investigation into a fight with football fans in a west London pub last month. Powell, who was knocked out during the brawl, subsequently needed stitches in a face wound. His injuries meant he was not able to attend a Wasps media conference the following day to promote the St George's Day Premiership fixture against Bath at Twickenham and he was suspended along with the England prop Tim Payne, who had been in the pub with him.
Payne was reinstated two days later after it was found he had been in the toilet when the fighting broke out. Another mitigating factor was that Payne had been given the following day off. Wasps used CCTV footage of the incident in their inquiry into Powell's role in the brawl and took two weeks to reach a decision.
"Andy Powell is to leave the club by mutual consent," the club said in a statement. "This announcement comes following a thorough and detailed review, between the player and the club, of all of the evidence arising from the incident for which Andy was initially suspended. This included a review of CCTV footage of the incident and statements from those witnesses present throughout.
"Both parties are satisfied that this matter has been dealt with in a proper, fair and appropriate manner and agree that the conclusion reached is in their respective best interests for the future. Both parties have also agreed that there will be no further comment from either side and the club considers the matter now closed."
Powell joined Wasps last summer after being released by the Cardiff Blues, as an indirect consequence of his being banned from driving and thrown out of the Wales squad after he drove a golf buggy down the M4 in the early hours after a victory over Scotland. The 29-year-old made 20 appearances for Wasps, scoring a try on his debut, and had been in talks over a two-year extension to his contract. They had stalled because of Powell's concern about Premiership Rugby's insistence that non-English players would be able to join up with their countries, to prepare for the World Cup, only on 4 August.
Powell's agreed silence would suggest the existence of a compensation deal, but his concern now is whether he will be involved in the World Cup at all. The Wales coach, Warren Gatland, will be concerned that this is the latest in a number of drink-fuelled incidents involving his players in the past couple of years. A reworded code of conduct is likely to be one of the consequences.
