A GWENT rugby club is calling for the Welsh Rugby Union to change its disciplinary policy after they lost an appeal against a reduction in their ticket allocation for international matches.

Fleur de Lys RFC were punished after eight of their allocated tickets for Wales' autumn international games appeared on internet auction site eBay at above face value.

The WRU named and shamed more than 20 clubs whose tickets were found to be for sale at marked up prices.

The move angered many clubs, including Fleur de Lys, which said it was disgusted by the public way in which their club was shamed before they had a chance to explain.

The club says the tickets for the game against Australia appeared on the internet after the sponsor who was sent the tickets was unable to attend. The tickets were then offered to other staff members who attempted to recoup the money for the tickets by selling them on.

The club had its future allocation reduced by eight tickets. The man in charge of distributing tickets among Fleur de Lys club members, Allan Evans, said there is a limit to what clubs can do to ensure sponsors do not pass tickets on to third parties And he called on the WRU to keep future investigations in-house.

"This has been going on for years but it has always been dealt with behind closed doors. If that had been done in this situation I don't think we would have had a complaint.

"The committee, and particularly I as club secretary, are quite simply devastated that the good name of the club has been besmirched. To have been the only club to suffer a penalty, and to have that broadcast so widely in the media, has left the club feeling very let down."

Four other Gwent clubs, Trinant, Blaenavon, Caldicot and Pontllanfraith were quizzed by the WRU after some of their allocated tickets appeared on eBay.

At a meeting of Gwent clubs earlier this week, it was agreed to urge the WRU to reconsider their harsh public approach to the ticketing issue. A WRU spokeswoman said the naming of clubs had helped in their ticket crackdown. She added that all disciplinary policies are reviewed regularly.