Wasps cut ties with Powell by mutual consent
WASPS last night dispensed with Andy Powell just weeks after the Wales No8 was involved in a high-profile brawl in a west London pub.
The Premiership club decided against offering a new contract to Powell, whose short-term deal was due to expire this month.
It leaves the 29-year-old’s World Cup hopes in disarray, with the former Cardiff Blues player without a club just four months before the tournament begins.
Powell lost two pints of blood and needed 10 stitches in his head after being hit with a barstool in the fracas at a Walkabout pub in Shepherd’s Bush last month.
The forward was initially suspended pending an internal investigation but any hope of reviving his career at Adams Park ended yesterday.
A Wasps statement read: “London Wasps can today announce that Andy Powell is to leave the club by mutual consent.
“This announcement comes following a thorough and detailed review, between the player and the club, of all of the evidence arising from the incident for which Andy was initially suspended. This included a review of CCTV footage of the incident and statements from those witnesses present throughout.
“Both parties are satisfied that this matter has been dealt with in a proper, fair and appropriate manner and agree that the conclusion reached is in their respective best interests for the future.”
Powell had hoped for a two-year contract at Wasps once his initial 12-month deal elapsed. No stranger to controversy, Powell was dropped from Wales’s 6 Nations squad last year for taking a golf buggy onto the M4 motorway.