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Premiership side Wasps on Tuesday asked the country’s rugby governing body (RFU) and the league to address the issue of fans wearing faux Native American headdresses ahead of the weekend’s game against the Exeter Chiefs.

The Chiefs’ logo features a Native American wearing a headdress and Wasps said fans who wore such faux headdresses were guilty of cultural appropriation.

“The wearing of faux Native American headdresses has the potential to cause offence and doesn’t align with our values,” Wasps said in a statement.

“However, having taken counsel on this issue, it is clear that to drive real change we need a sport wide position to be reached.

“We have, therefore, approached Premiership Rugby, the RFU and the RFU’s newly formed Diversity and Inclusion working group to ask that this issue is formally addressed.”

Wasps, however, stopped short of banning faux Native American attire ahead of Saturday’s game, adding that acting in isolation would only lead to “further division and uncertainty.”

“However, we do not support the wearing of such items, discourage supporters from wearing them and will be revisiting this decision in due course,” Wasps added.

Exeter Chiefs for Change, a group campaigning to change the logo they say perpetuates “misleading and harmful stereotypes,” welcomed Wasps’ statement.

“Rugby is one of the last areas to respond to this issue, with several American football, baseball and ice hockey teams having banned them in recent years,” the group said.

Exeter reviewed the club’s branding in the wake of a petition calling for an end to their use of “harmful imagery” last year and though they said that the use of the logo was “highly respectful,” they agreed to retire their mascot ‘Big Chief.’

The petition against the Chiefs came in the wake of the NFL’s Washington team retiring its ‘Redskins’ name and logo after 87 years, which had long been criticised as racist by Native American rights groups.

The team is now known as the Washington Football Team and they made a decision in August to ban fans from wearing Native American-inspired headdresses or face paint to games.

In April, Major League Baseball’s Cleveland Indians — which will be rebranded as the Cleveland Guardians after the 2021 season — introduced a similar ban for its fans for the new season.

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Rangers’ Seager feels better, eyes return this year

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Rangers' Seager feels better, eyes return this year

ARLINGTON, Texas — Texas shortstop Corey Seager is feeling better after having an appendectomy and still hopeful of playing again this season for the playoff-chasing Rangers, though the two-time World Series MVP is unsure if that will happen.

“I mean, I have to think it’s possible … or it won’t be,” Seager said Friday in his first public comments since the procedure Aug. 28 in Texas, the same day the Rangers left for a six-day road trip.

While Seager is eligible to come off the 10-day injured list Sunday, he said there’s no chance of that.

A little while later, the Rangers placed slugger Adolis García on the 10-day IL with a right quadriceps strain – prior to the opener of a three-game series against AL West-leading Houston. That move was retroactive to Tuesday.

Outfielder Dustin Harris was brought up from Triple-A Round Rock and right-hander Jon Gray (right shoulder nerve irritation) was transferred to the 60-day IL.

Seager has researched athletes who have come back to play after an appendectomy.

“I feel like I got very opposite ends of the spectrum,” he said. “It was either really fast or kind of wasn’t.”

Matt Holliday was with the St. Louis Cardinals in 2011 when he had an appendectomy on April 1, and returned to their lineup as the designated hitter nine days later. Seager said he had also been told of some basketball players returning in three weeks.

“But it’s not rotating and stuff, so I don’t know if that changes it just because of where the incisions are,” Seager said. “So I really don’t know.”

Seager’s appendectomy came a day after he experienced abdominal pain during the Rangers’ previous home game, a 20-3 win in the finale of a three-game series against the Los Angeles Angels on Aug. 27. He hit his 21st homer of the season in that game, after also going deep the previous night.

Seager said he started feeling pain after the series opener against the Angels.

“Then it just kind of progressively got worse,” said Seager, adding doctors told him he was within 48 hours of his appendix rupturing.

“Which is a very different story,” he said.

Texas went into the series against the Astros five games behind the division leaders, and 1 1/2 games out of the final American League wild-card spot. Second baseman Marcus Semien (left foot) and right-hander Nathan Eovaldi (right rotator cuff strain) are among other injured Rangers.

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Dodgers’ Rushing fouls pitch off leg, awaits scan

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Dodgers' Rushing fouls pitch off leg, awaits scan

BALTIMORE — Los Angeles Dodgers catcher Dalton Rushing left Friday’s 2-1 loss to the Baltimore Orioles after fouling a pitch off his leg in the top of the sixth inning.

Rushing suffered a right lower leg contusion after he fouled off a pitch from Orioles right-hander Kade Strowd. Rushing was replaced by pinch-hitter Alex Call and then catcher Ben Rortvedt.

Starting catcher Will Smith is not available Saturday because of a right hand contusion.

Manager Dave Roberts said Rushing was in rough shape after the baseball hit the inside of his right knee. The catcher was seen on crutches in the clubhouse after the game.

“It got him pretty good,” Roberts said. “X-rays fortunately were negative. He’s going to get a CT scan tomorrow morning just to kind of dig a little deeper on it. He’s pretty banged up right now. I think until we know more, obviously he’s not going to be in there tomorrow. I guess it’s adding him to the day to day list.”

Roberts said Rortvedt will catch Saturday and the club will call up another catcher.

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Witt leaves Royals’ win with low back spasms

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Witt leaves Royals' win with low back spasms

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Bobby Witt Jr. left the Kansas City Royals’ 2-1 win over the Minnesota Twins on Friday in the seventh inning because of low back spasms.

The Royals shortstop made two defensive plays, on ground balls, in the top half of the sixth inning, then exited before Kansas City took the field in the seventh.

“[It happened] sometime in that inning before we took him out,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said. “He talked to [Royals head athletic trainer Kyle Turner]. As he sat there, it got worse.”

With the Royals leading 2-1, Witt was replaced in the lineup by Nick Loftin, who played third base while Maikel Garcia shifted to shortstop.

Quatraro offered no prognosis on Witt’s return.

“Right now, we just think it’s back spasms, low back spasms,” Quatraro said. “It locked up pretty good on him.”

Witt was 0-for-3 with a strikeout.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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