Women in hotel see Wallabies dropped
Australian rugby was plunged into embarrassment on Friday after it emerged Adam Ashley-Cooper and Kurtley Beale were not considered to face England because they invited three women back to their Newport hotel room a fortnight ago.
Ashley-Cooper and Beale, who boast precisely 200 caps between them, broke team protocol following a 9-6 defeat to Wales. Both players featured in the 26-7 win over Italy last weekend but their behaviour was subsequently disclosed to coach Michael Cheika on Monday by a group of senior players including David Pocock, Nick Phipps, Samu Kerevi and Allan Alaalatoa and led by captain Michael Hooper.
Hooper admitted the decision to raise the incident had been “extremely hard” yet denied it had caused any disunity. Australia’s team rules state no visitors are allowed in players’ rooms, so although the women — one of whom was AshleyCooper’s sisterin-law — are believed to have left by 10.30pm, the players were sanctioned.
Cheika, who has overseen a run of 10 defeats in 14 tests dating back to last year, made no mention of the incident on Thursday when announcing his initial match-day 23 to face England overnight.
However, he addressed the “relatively minor” issue, comparing it to breaking a curfew or being late for training, after reports broke in Australian media 24 hours later.
“We have had an inconsistent season because we have often taken short cuts when we have needed to go harder and get to the well a little bit more and dig a bit deeper,” said Cheika. “We got together and said we needed to get tougher on the little things, whether that is jogging into the water at training or making sure our off-field is exactly how the team says.”
Cheika revealed the team bus to training had left without him in Argentina last month because he missed the designated meeting time “by one minute” but stressed there was “clarity” over future standards.
Ashley-Cooper won his 117th cap in Italy, making a first senior international appearance since August 2016. Cheika had brought back the test centurion, who was playing in Japan, with a view to him competing for a place at next year’s World Cup.
Both players have been kept on tour rather than sent home, with Cheika praising their response and insisting that Rugby Australia chief executive Raelene Castle had been “in the loop the whole time”.
Cheika finished by reiterating his own commitment to the cause.
“You haven’t asked me any questions I haven’t asked myself. I love the challenge, no matter what. Have I had doubts? Not really, to be honest.”