Wallaby winger Wendell Sailor was suspended for an additional two matches and fined an extra 3 500 Australian dollars ($2 587) on Tuesday over an incident outside a Cape Town nightclub during the New South Wales Waratah’s tour of South Africa earlier this month.
The punishment came on top of a one-match ban and a 500 Australian dollar fine handed down last week by the Waratahs for inappropriate behaviour when Sailor was intoxicated on the night of February 17.
Sailor was also sent home from the South Africa tour in disgrace.
He received his additional punishment at a hearing late on Tuesday of an Australian Rugby Union (ARU) Conduct Tribunal, which said Sailor’s action ”had caused considerable damage to the image and reputation of his team, the NSW Rugby Union, the Australian Rugby Union and the game as a whole”.
The 31-year-old rugby league convert had earlier expressed deep regret over the incident but was unhappy with the tribunal’s ruling.
”It’s more than fair to say I’m disappointed with the outcome,” said Sailor, who had hoped to suffer an additional one-match ban at worst.
”Being suspended for two more games will take me up to a month on the sidelines, which especially hurts when the Waratahs need me to be on the field,” he said.
”I now look forward to giving the boys my full support over the next two weeks while getting myself ready for the match against the Western Force in Perth.”
Sailor had already missed the Waratah’s match against the Stormers last weekend and will now be out of their clash against the Sharks this Saturday in Sydney and another home game against the Cats on March 10.
The high-profile Wallaby winger already had a suspended ARU two-match ban hanging over him from another late night indiscretion in Cape Town last year when he was in South Africa with the Wallabies.
That suspended ban remains in place, the ARU panel said.
The ARU said Sailor’s prior off-field misbehaviour weighed heavily in Tuesday’s decision, which also took into account his strong on-field work ethic and extensive charity and community work.
ARU chief executive Gary Flowers said it was important to send a strong message to the entire rugby community.
”Australian rugby and our supporters expect their players to represent themselves, their team and their country in a manner befitting an international player,” he said.
”It is unfortunate that we have had to resort to such a measure, but in this instance we were left with no choice.”
New South Wales Rugby Union chairperson Arvid Petersen agreed.
”While this might be a disruption to the Waratahs’ Super 14 campaign, it is important that we take a strong stance in the area of player behaviour and off-field discipline,” he saied.
The ARU panel had the power to terminate Sailor’s contract with the Waratahs, for whom he has played just one Super 14 match since switching this year from the Queensland Reds.
After the latest incident, a Cape Town newspaper said Sailor had been spotted in an intoxicated state and had pushed a fellow nightclub patron to the ground.
Sailor later described the incident as ”probably the lowest point of my career”. – AFP
