The four referees in charge of matches in the second-tier Parker Pen Shield are Joel Jutge of France, Rob Dickson of Scotland, Alain Rolland of Ireland and, er, Signore de Santis, who will take the Gloucester-Ebbw Vale tie at Kingsholm.”We have picked the leading officials, based on pure performance,” McGrath said. “In addition, we are ensuring that senior touch-judges are of sufficient quality to take over refereeing duties in the event of an injury.”As a result of this policy, four experienced international officials – Steve Lander of England, David McHugh of Ireland, Didier Mene of France and Nigel Williams of Wales – will run the Heineken Cup line next weekend, rather than in the Shield.ERC are still awaiting any appeal by Castres against the 12-month suspension meted out to flanker Ismaella Lassissi on Thursday night. Lassissi, a 32-year-old Ivory Coast international, was found guilty of biting the Munster prop Peter Clohessyduring last weekend’s game at Stade Pierre-Antoine. Following the panel’s decision, Castres withdrew allegations that Clohessy had subjected Lassissi to racial abuse.The England management have included 29-year-old Leeds prop Mike Shelley and 18-year-old Gloucester scrum-half Clive Stuart-Smith in an A team squad scheduled to train at Sandhurst on Monday.. The BBC was forced to apologise to viewers after Greg Rusedski, in an Australian Open clash with fellow Briton Tim Henman broadcast live on BBC1, directed a volley of abuse at the umpire reminiscent of John McEnroe in his foul-mouthed prime.

In front of 15,000 spectators in Melbourne, he swore at the Swiss umpire, Andreas Egli, and branded him “an embarrassment”.The disputed ball came at a crucial point in the second set when Henman, who went on to win in four sets to gain a place in the last 16, was leading by five games to three.Rusedski, convinced the ball had been out, threw his arms up and yelled: “The ball was out! The ball was this far out.” He turned on the umpire and uttered a four-letter expletive, demanding: “Are you blind? It’s unbelievable!”The umpire came in for further abuse during the break when Rusedski told him: “You are an embarrassment to yourself How can you miss that call? The ball was this far long. What are you looking at? Are you watching the match?”Television replays showed that the ball might just have caught the back edge of the line, proving Rusedski wrong.. Jonas Bjorkman, of Sweden, who stands between Tim Henman and his first appearance in a Grand Slam quarter-final outside Wimbledon, has had more dealings recently with Tim Phillips, the All England Club chairman, than with the British No 1. Bjorkman, in his role as chairman of the ATP players’ council, was involved in the compromise that resulted in the number of seeds being raised from 16 to 32.

He may be John Virgo with a racket in his lighter moments, but Bjorkman is all business on the court, whether playing singles or doubles, for himself or his country (next month, remember, Sweden visit Birmingham to play Britain in the first round of the Davis Cup World Group).Although one of the finest returners of serve in the game, Bjorkman’s singles ranking – No 64 – has not matched his status as a doubles player – currently No 1. Henman, however, will know better than to underestimate him when they meet in the fourth round at the Australian Open tomorrow, having lost four of their six previous matches, including a straight sets defeat in Melbourne in 1996, their only other Grand Slam meeting.Henman was a fledgling talent at the time, and Bjorkman, who is approaching 30, could hardly have imagined that the skinny young fellow from Oxfordshire would grow to give a more impressive impersonation of Edberg than he ever could. Such praise may seem extravagant, but there were shades of Edberg in Henman’s masterful performance against Greg Rusedski, the British No 2, in the third round yesterday.Rusedski can rarely have played so well and lost. There were moments when he displayed the determination that took him to the US Open final in 1997, defeating Bjorkman in the semi-finals in a season that saw him and the Swede achieve their highest ranking, No 4. It took a tantrum to ignite Rusedski’s game yesterday – wishful thinking persuading him that a Henman volley landed long on a break point that might have saved the second set – but no matter how hard Rusedski tried and how few errors he made, Henman was able to deliver the crucial shots to win, 6-4, 6-3, 1-6, 6-3.Rusedski’s serve was trustworthy rather than terrifying, and Henman intercepted well.