The Australia coach, Ewen McKenzie, says he is "very disappointed" with the 15 members of his touring squad who have been disciplined following a drunken night out in Dublin last week. Adam Ashley-Cooper, Nick Cummins, Tatafu Polota-Nau, Benn Robinson and Liam Gill have all been banned from Saturday's Test against Scotland, the prop Paddy Ryan will sit out the subsequent match against Wales and a further nine players have been warned about their future behaviour.
No public complaints were received about the players' early-hours conduct following a team dinner last Tuesday but McKenzie has decided to crack down hard following a series of alcohol-related incidents involving Australian players over the past year.
"I'm very disappointed in all of them," said McKenzie, whose side beat Ireland 32-15 at the weekend. "We've made it quite clear to individuals about what's acceptable. It was a bad night for us, and a bunch of bad decisions were made."
Ashley-Cooper has won 90 caps for the Wallabies while Robinson has appeared 65 times for his country. Five of those involved featured in Australia's 23 against Ireland, one of the Wallabies' better performances this year, but McKenzie felt the "inappropriate levels of alcohol" consumed in the early hours of Wednesday morning could not be tolerated. "The easiest thing in these situations is to do nothing. I've been involved in sport for a long time. But to do nothing will give you mediocrity. We need to set high standards and then make sure we stick to them. The guys can have a glass of wine or two, that's always been the rule," McKenzie said.
"Some players made a decision that the dinner might go on a lot longer and involve more drinks. That's not acceptable … and they've paid a price."
"Let's be clear – these are internal sanctions and aren't a result of any complaints or reports of inappropriate or sinister behaviour while our players were out. We've done this because we need to continually reinforce the need for our players to make smart decisions to benefit the team."
The level of punishment given to each player reflects their individual behaviour and is based partly on whether they were involved in the Ireland game. Ryan's delayed suspension is due to IRB regulations requiring each match day squad to contain at least four props. With only five props chosen in Australia's 32-man touring squad, one of either Robinson or Ryan is required to participate against Scotland and Wales.
Additional written sanctions have been delivered to Dave Dennis, Kane Douglas, Saia Fainga'a, Bernard Foley and Nick Phipps, while Scott Fardy, Mike Harris, Ben McCalman and Nic White have all had verbal disciplinary warnings. "This is not a simple process but it needs to happen so we can have a chance to be the best team we can be," said McKenzie.
"Already this year we've spent a lot of time being crystal clear around behaviour to ensure we are in a position to take the step-up to the next level.
"The reality is that if we are going to reach these levels, the players need to be making the right decisions as professional athletes and need to do everything possible to perform at their best for each Test. We also need to recognise the players who are doing the right thing and ensure our behaviours are in-line with the expectations of our stakeholders and our fan base.
"There is no doubt having talented players unavailable will put this team under significant pressure but we won't be using this situation as an excuse. For us, this is a great opportunity to circle the wagons and re-calibrate our behaviours to get back on track off the field.
"I am disappointed on a personal level, but firm action is the best outcome when presented with a scenario like this. You need to deal with issues to ensure everyone can be accountable for their actions. The players involved have accepted the outcomes and we'll concentrate on moving on and making the best of the situation. Our entire focus remains on beating Scotland."
Australia's selection against the Scots, however, also hinges on the outcome of a disciplinary hearing in London on Tuesday following the red card shown to the centre Tevita Kuridrani for a dangerous tackle on Ireland's flanker Peter O'Mahony.
The 21-year-old Scarlets prop Rob Evans, meanwhile, has been called up to train with the injury-hit Wales squad ahead of Friday's game against Tonga. He is the fifth player to be summoned from outside Warren Gatland's original autumn squad. James Simpson-Daniel and Ryan Mills both face lengthy absences after having operations on ankle and foot injuries respectively in the wake of Gloucester's weekend LV Cup win over Newcastle.
