Sport
Send the lot home
By Jon Geddes - The Daily Telegraph (NSW Metropolitan, 27 July 2005)
WALLABY legend Simon Poidevin believes stars Lote Tuqiri, Wendell Sailor and Matt Dunning should have been sent home from the South African tour along with Matt Henjak after allegations emerged that Henjak was involved in a scuffle with Tuqiri.
The Cape Town nightclub affair continued to cause more damage for the Wallabies yesterday with team manager Phil Thomson refusing to confirm or deny reports Henjak had thrown the remnants of a drink over Tuqiri in the early hours of last Thursday.
Tuqiri is said to have responded by grabbing Henjak with the pair needing to be separated. Asked to respond to the allegations last night, Thomson said: "No I can't comment on this matter. We've done everything involved in the investigation, we've made a decision and Matt is on his way home." |
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| Simon Poidevin says all the Wallabies involved in the nightclub incident in South Africa should have been sent home. |
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Pressed on the matter, Thomson replied: "I cannot confirm or deny it."
The situation has angered former Wallabies such as Poidevin who said last night: "I might be old school, but if I was the manager of that side the other guys would be on the plane with him."
Former Wallaby captain Mark Ella said it was inexcusable for players to be out nightclubbing in the early hours so close to a game.
Henjak became the first player in 40 years to be sent home from a Wallaby tour after the official investigation found him guilty of throwing a drink in a Cape Town nightclub early on Thursday.
Tuqiri, Sailor and Dunning – who were at the club with Henjak – were fined $500 for breaching team standards.
Sailor and Tuqiri, who were also in the starting side in last Saturday's Test won by the Springboks 33-20, received two-game bans, suspended for two years.
Poidevin had no problem with the strong action taken against third-string halfback Henjak by the tour disciplinary committee.
"There is a process in place and that process has resulted in him being on a plane," Poidevin said.
"What I have got a problem with is that three of the players in our 22 are at the nightclub at three o'clock on a Thursday morning before a Saturday night Test match. That to me is just unforgivable and I would have thought the $500 fine is a joke."
Ella said the players knew what the environment was like in South Africa before they got there.
"To be out at that hour was inexcusable, they should have known better in the first place," Ella said.
Andrew Slack, the captain of the 1984 Grand Slam Wallaby side, said he didn't know the exact circumstances of what occurred in South Africa.
"If what is portrayed by the team management is exactly what happened, it's a real tough call on Henjak and a pretty soft call on the others," Slack said.
ARU chief executive Gary Flowers said he was happy with the way the Wallabies had handled the situation.
"They have taken the appropriate steps for a breach of the team code," Flowers said. | End |
