Thu 23 Dec 2004 | 20:31 GMT
LONDON (Reuters)
European and Premiership champions Wasps have been thrown out of the English Cup for playing an ineligible player.
Hooker Jonny Barrett played for the London club in Sunday's 40-33 extra-time, sixth-round victory over Bristol but the 25-year-old had earlier played for Henley against Moseley in the third round in October.
Bristol have been reinstated in the competition in Wasps' place and will play Gloucester in the quarter-finals in January.
"We are fully satisfied that there was nothing pre-meditated about the player being selected for the game and we have accepted it as a mistake made on the part of the club. The regulations are very clear however, and we had no other option but to enforce them," Rugby Football Union spokesman Terry Burwell said on Thursday.
The disqualification is a huge blow to Wasps, who are struggling to make the knockout stages of the Heineken Cup after back-to-back defeats by Leicester earlier this month, but they have accepted the decision and do not plan to appeal.
"It was just a straightforward administrative oversight, neither Jonny nor us were aware that he had played in the competition," David Davies, Wasps chief executive told Sky Sports News.
"It's embarrassing and distressing for us, but to appeal would have been distracting for the squad so we have decided to take the punishment on the chin."
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