IRB LOOK INTO TINCU INCIDENT

The International Rugby Board has launched an investigation after the Perpignan hooker Marius Tincu played for his club in the French domestic league last weekend despite being suspended until March.

Tincu is in the middle of an 18-week ban handed down after he was found guilty of foul play during the Heineken Cup Pool Three match against the Ospreys on 18 October.

He is barred from competing at any level of the game until 9 March next year.

Tincu was nevertheless selected for Perpignan's Top 14 encounter with Castres on Saturday, and the IRB have been quick to demand an explanation from his club.

"The IRB has asked the Federation Française de Rugby (FFR) to submit a complete record of the events, decisions and procedures that resulted in the apparent breach of sanction and Tincu taking to the field against Castres Olympique," read an IRB statement. "On receipt of the report the IRB will decide on the appropriate course of action."