August escaped any possibility of censure

August was reported by citing commissioner John West for an alleged eye gouge on Bath's Danny Grewcock.

But tournament disciplinary rules state the commissioner and match referee - West's fellow Irishman Alain Rolland - must be drawn from different countries.

A disciplinary hearing ruled there was no valid citing complaint to consider.

The independent disciplinary committee, chaired by Rod McKenzie (Scotland) and also comprising Mike Rafter (England) and Richard McGhee (Scotland), noted that the citing commissioner came from the IRFU as did the referee.

European Rugby Cup Limited, the tournament organisers, had effectively not applied their own criteria when selecting the officials for the semi-final on 22 April, which Biarritz won 18-9.

It means August, who captained Biarritz in the absence of regular skipper Thomas Lievremont, is available for the 20 May final in Cardiff.

If found guilty of the offence, which Grewcock played down afterwards, he risked a ban of anything between three months and two years.