Kevin Yates' sporting future has suddenly become a macabre game of Cluedo. There is little dispute about the implements used, nor the location, but the England squad prop still insists, despite his suspension on full pay by Bath yesterday, he is not the despicable Colonel Mustard who bit off a chunk of London Scottish flanker Simon Fenn's left ear last Saturday.
The 25-year-old heard of his debut selection for England in Argentina this summer while on crutches after putting his foot in a pothole crossing a road in Cordoba. If he imagined that was painful, it will be nothing to what lies ahead if he fails to convince the club's disciplinary hearing scheduled for early next week of his innocence.
Last night's statement from Bath, criticising London Scottish for citing all three members of the front-row, was notable for what it left out as much as what it contained. Chief executive Tony Swift insists he is "very concerned at the way the club and rugby is being portrayed" but knows the world fully expected Bath to clear the murky air without outside assistance.
Yates, according to Swift, has been quizzed on three separate occasions and each time has vehemently protested his innocence. He was upset but apparently took the news of his suspension "very professionally"; his mother Anne, for one, is adamant he should not be fingered as the culprit.
"At the moment all this is in the hands of the solicitors but as far as I am concerned I do not see how Kevin could have done anything wrong," she said. "I was watching the match and didn't see anything untoward. They all wear gumshields so how on earth could anyone have made an injury like that with a gumshield in?"
Fenn's injury, as revealed by Scottish on Monday, is undeniable but Bath are still saying they have no definitive medical evidence he was bitten, nor video proof that one of their men was involved. "We're got to find the truth but we're not going to be rail-roaded into a decision we're not happy with," said Swift.
A full investigation involving chief executive Tony Swift, head coach Andy Robinson and company director Thomas Sheppard has also concluded there is no "evidence that identifies" Mendez or Ubogu. Mendez, in particular, may be tempted to take the matter further.
"I didn't do it and I didn't see what happened," he said. "I was a good few inches away. All I know was there was a lot of blood. I don't believe that any Bath player was involved. None of us would do anything like that."
Yates was due at Bisham Abbey this morning for the first England squad get-together of the new year prior to the Five Nations championship. Hitherto regarded as an affable sort, he has opted not to attend, saying that "potential media interest might prove a disruption to the remainder of the squad."
The worst case scenario is that Yates is thrown out of the club and banned by the RFU for at least two years. His supporters, though, point out that every man is innocent until proven guilty and the mystery of Fenn's ear has yet to be satisfactorily explained by either side.
Coach Andy Robinson, meanwhile, insists the club will shoulder their way through the crisis and give everything against Newcastle in the league this weekend, not to mention Brive in the European Cup final against Brive in Bordeaux on Jan 31st.
