Drunk Scottish players kicked off flight, squad

Scotland rugby league team captain Danny Brough and two teammates have been kicked off their Rugby League World Cup squad after being too drunk to catch a flight from Christchurch to Brisbane.

The Scottish Rugby League (SRL) confirmed Brough, Sam Brooks and Johnny Walker remained in Christchurch yesterday when the rest of the squad flew to Cairns for for their next match against Samoa this weekend.

A disappointed SRL chairman Keith Hogg told The Press last night his organisation fully supported the airline’s decision to refuse to let the trio on the earlymorning flight.

‘‘They clearly had been drinking in an inappropriate fashion. The consequences of that became very obvious at the airport. The airline were quite within their rights to say what they said.’’

Hogg said the trio were not involved in any confrontation or argument at the airport. No member of the public was involved.

He said ‘‘all three players’’ were ‘‘very contrite’’ and accepted they had ‘‘overstepped the mark’’.

‘‘It’s very easy to say that occasionally these things happen . . . but whenever they do, it’s incredibly disappointing.

‘‘We expect everyone involved in Scotland Rugby League to adhere to the highest standards of behaviour. We fully support the code of conduct that is in place for everyone who is involved in the 2017 World Cup.

‘‘We all understand our responsibilities to the game and we must respect the sport and everyone who is involved in it at all times. Unfortunately, these three players have not adhered to those standards and those values and will be leaving early from a tournament that it is a privilege for us to be involved in.’’

Hogg said the trio were ‘‘not being abandoned’’. Plans were in place for them to stay in Christchurch overnight on Sunday before flying out on Monday ‘‘to wherever they have to go to’’.

Scotland were thrashed 74-6 by the Kiwis in Christchurch on Saturday night after losing their first pool match, 50-4 to Tonga.

They were due to leave Christchurch on an early morning flight on Sunday.

The banned trio all played in the Kiwis rout with Brough starting at standoff half and Walker and Brooks both interchange forwards.

Brough, 34, is one of the most decorated players in the English Super League. He won the Man of Steel award for Britain’s best player in 2013 and is a three-time winner of the Albert Goldthorpe Medal for the top player in Super League. The Yorkshire-born Huddersfield Giants stalwart has captained Scotland at the last three World Cup tournaments, dating back to 2008. Walker and Brooks are frontrowers.

Walker, 26, plays for the Bradford Bulls while Brooks, 24, is contracted to Featherstone Rovers.

It is the second incident at the Rugby League World Cup.

The NRL’s integrity unit – working on behalf of World Cup organisers – were last week investigating allegations of a fight between Italy teammates James Tedesco and Shannon Wakeman in a Cairns nightclub.

Hogg said World Cup organisers were immediately informed of the action taken by the Scottish Rugby League.

He said the integrity unit was ‘‘not involved at this stage’’.