Exeter hooker Luke Cowan-Dickie was reportedly detained in a drunk tank in France after being stopped by the police for public drunkenness during a night out in Montpellier, where he is due to join next season.
The 29-year-old was not arrested but was placed in a cell to sober up.
The state prosecutor in Montpellier, Fabrice Bélargent, confirmed that Cowan-Dickie was the subject of a procedure for manifest and public drunkenness after being stopped in front of a nightclub by Montpellier municipal police at 4:30 am on April 19.
He was placed in the “cellule de dégrisement,” which is French for “drunk tank or ‘sobering up cell’.”
The incident comes at a time when Cowan-Dickie faces an indefinite period on the sidelines with no timescale on his return from his neck injury.
This leaves his place in England’s World Cup plans and his proposed move to Montpellier in doubt. Nevertheless, Telegraph Sport understands that he passed the first part of his medical with Montpellier.
Rob Baxter, the Chiefs director of rugby, stated that the situation has been “massively blown out of proportion.”
“Horror draw” – England get pool of death in revised World Cup draw
The recently released World Rugby Rankings highlight the absurdity of the Pool Draw for the upcoming Rugby World Cup 2023, which was determined three years in advance and appears to be heavily skewed.
In response to criticism, World Rugby has announced that future pool draws for the Rugby World Cup will be conducted closer to the start of the tournament, as the current practice of relying on team rankings at the time of the draw is deemed unfair.
According to a report by the Mirror, World Rugby will make changes to the pool draw process for the 2027 edition.
“World Rugby said it is able to make the change because of a new ‘hosting model’ that sees the international federation create collaborations with the host union,” the report read.
“The top of the men’s Test game has never been more competitive,” the spokesperson added. “There has never been so much movement over a two-year period.
“Bearing that in mind and noting the format of four pools of five teams, there is arguably no perfect time for a draw.”
As a result, the guys over at Eggchasers Rugby put together their own drawer the 2023 tournament based on the current World Rugby rankings.
Concentrating on only the top 10 countries in the world, it looks significant.
It was very different with England handed a much sterner test in their pool. Watch the full video here.
POOL A actual draw:
- France
- New Zealand
POOL A up to date draw
- France
- Australia