SALE Sharks flanker Pete Anglesea walked out of Twickenham a free man last night, after the Rugby Football Union cleared him of gouging Newcastle Falcons' Jon Dunbar.

The decision comes one month after the RFU banned the former England A player for a year - the longest ban ever handed out to a professional player in England.

The incident occurred during the two teams' Premiership clash on October 8, and although the injury was superficial and Dunbar returned to the field fifteen minutes later, Anglesea was cited by Newcastle's director of rugby Rob Andrew less than a week later.

Sale chairman Quentin Smith heralded the decision as "a vindication, not time for celebration."

Smith, a lawyer with Manchester firm Addleshaw Booth, said "We're not crowing about any victory at the moment.

"The allegation was made, and after thorough investigation and consideration, Pete was completely exonerated and no blame is attached to his name.

"Sale knew we had a specialist sport department here and trusted us to present the evidence in the case.

"As a club and management team, we backed Pete absolutely 100% through all of this. We felt there was no evidence against him and we were proved right."

"The pressure on Pete was immense and the main thing is that he, as well as everyone at the club, is relieved that the matter is behind us and he can get on with playing rugby."

Sharks' full back Jason Robinson is rested for tomorrow's trip to Connacht, while Bryan Redpath is absent after receiving a knee operation.

The Scottish scrum-half aims to return for the Leeds match at Heywood Road on December 22.

A statement from the RFU said, "We have heard new evidence from an opthlmic specialist, Mr Akingbehin, that the injuries sustained are not consistent with gouging.

"The version of events put forward by the defence is consistent with Jon Dunbar's recollection - the only difference being the intent."