Aussie union refutes claims

– Rugby Australia insisted yesterday it has seen no evidence of match-fixing and refuted claims that it launched a “top secret” probe into a suspect Wallabies Test several years ago.

The Sydney Morning Herald reported yesterday that high-ranking sports officials had “serious doubts” about the behaviour of at least three unnamed Australian players in the game.

Citing one of the unnamed officials, it said the concern surrounded a match Australia was strongly favoured to win, with the opposition at highly attractive odds with several betting agencies.

It said the Wallabies lost following numerous unusual incidents, including dubious forward passes, easy tackles being missed, confounding knock-ons and easy midfield kicks going nowhere near their target.

The newspaper said the incidents prompted a “top-secret” investigation in which team officials were questioned and an examination was made of any unusual betting trends on the match.

It added that the concern were exacerbated by the “close links” between several players and a controversial horse racing identity, and that the officials wanted the issue re-examined.

“This issue has to be looked into,” one official told the paper.

“Our suspicions were originally raised due to the very strange mistakes made by usually reliable Australian players during that game. Some errors are glaring,” the official was quoted as saying.

But Rugby Australia dismissed the allegations.

“Rugby Australia wishes to confirm it has seen no evidence in regards to inappropriate betting activity or match-fixing and has no record of any such investigation occurring in the past.

“Rugby Australia takes any allegation of match-fixing very seriously,” it added. –

Sydney

It’s like watching Tiger Woods miss a two-inch putt over and over again. Very odd.

Sydney Morning Herald