Wallaby winger Lote Tuqiri was banned for two matches and fined Aus$20 000 (about US$17 000) on Tuesday after an alcohol breath test showed he had breached team discipline, the Australian Rugby Union (ARU) said.
The punishment rules Tuqiri out of Australia’s final Tri-Nations matches against South Africa and New Zealand, meaning he cannot play for Australia until the Wallabies open their World Cup campaign against Japan on September 8.
An ARU statement said Tuqiri failed to attend a team recovery session in Sydney on Monday following Saturday night’s thrilling 20-15 win over New Zealand, in which he helped set up a try for Adam Ashley-Cooper.
The ARU conducted a breath test after Tuqiri’s no-show, recording an alcohol reading above team limits and triggering a two-match suspended sentence Tuqiri incurred for a barroom brawl with teammate Matt Henjak in Cape Town in 2005.
Tuqiri, whose positive alcohol reading was recorded mid-afternoon on Monday, insisted he had gone out for a few drinks with friends on Sunday night and failed to realise he had commitments the next day.
”I feel bad, that I’ve let the fans and supporters down at the game and a bit sheepish that I’ve let my family down as well,” Tuqiri told reporters.
Wallaby coach John Connolly said the ARU officials who tested Tuqiri had said ”he looked a bit shabby.”
ARU chief executive John O’Neill, keen to reassert his authority on the game after regaining the top job last week, said the ARU had no choice but to suspend one of its highest profile players.
”The agreement that no off-field indiscretions were to occur for two years has been broken and there is no alternative but to impose a two-match suspension,” O’Neill said.
ARU chiefs overruled a disciplinary committee recommendation for a one-match ban to double the punishment, making him ineligible for the Bledisloe Cup decider against the All Blacks in Auckland on July 21.
”No one would be keener than me to win the Bledisloe Cup back in a couple of weeks’ time and have our best team on the paddock’ but it sends out a bad message if you don’t apply the rules,” O’Neill said. — AFP
