Every sporting code in every country will have its share of controversy, but the constant stream of controversy that surrounds the Wallabies rugby team is surely a worry for a sporting code struggling to keep pace with the likes of Rugby League and Australian Rules Football.
There have been a few recent examples which have proved to be of embarrassment to the ARU:
James O’Connor was stood down from national duties after being removed from an airport in Perth, accused of being too drunk to be allowed to board the plane. Quade Cooper was accused of taking two laptops from a home on the Gold Coast. The charges were withdrawn after “completion of a justice mediation process with the complainants”. His infamous Tweets about the “toxic environment under Robbie Deans” as well as questioning the game plan and style of play drew international attention and saw him removed from national duties for three games.
Scrumhalf Matt Henjack was no stranger to controversy during his playing career and was involved in a series of scandals. In 2004, he was involved in an altercation in South Africa, in which the complainant was reputed to have been secretly paid A$16,000 to drop assault charges. He was involved in an altercation in which his own team mate Haige Saire had his jaw broken. Henjak was then dismissed by the Western Force after he was found guilty of involvement in a bar room brawl.
The latest embarrassing event revolves around Kurtley Beale. Before we delve into that though, it is worthwhile to look into Beale’s recent history. In 2013 he was sent home from the Melbourne Rebels tour to South Africa after punching team captain Gareth Delve on the team bus after the game against the Sharks. He agreed to take some time out to attend counseling to address his alcohol related issues. He was suspended almost immediately after his return as he was caught on another alcohol related curfew offense. The Rebels then decided to drop him from their squad.
Beale’s latest offense took place on the Wallabies flight from Johannesburg to Buenos Aries in Argentina in which he was involved with a major altercation with Business Manager Di Patston. Beale was stood down from the Test Match against Los Pumas and Patston traveled straight on back to Australia. An internal Australian Rugby Union investigation was immediately scheduled to deal with this incident, however an independent inquiry was subsequently called for when it became known that Beale had been distributing what has been termed as “deeply disturbing” and “highly inappropriate” text messages involving Patston. Reports from Sydney indicate that the pictures were obscene and insulting towards Patston and include vulgar comments about her. Incredibly, Beale included her on the distribution list when he sent the texts to the rest of the squad. Patston resigned from her post on Friday 10 October 2014, citing excessive stress.
There had apparently been widespread dissatisfaction with the increased powers given to Patston recently, with players querying her role in the management structure. Rumours have abounded in Australia that Wallabies coach Ewen McKenzie’s interest in Patston extended further than a business relationship, a charge which he vehemently denies and as this is unconfirmed at this stage we will not speculate further. However, even if McKenzie is completely innocent of a relationship with a member of his management group, his integrity has still surely been severely compromised. He was aware of these text messages back in June of this year and did nothing about it. Why did he not act immediately if the content was that explosive? Did he keep quiet to protect Beale? He surely had an obligation to protect Patston from this type of abuse as is alleged and if proven to be true also places a serious question mark over the suitability of the Wallabies camp for a female employee.
This incident has created so much media attention in Australia that during the press conference to announce the team to take on the All Blacks in the 3rd Bledisloe Cup Test it took a full 19 minutes before a journalist even asked about the inclusion of Quade Cooper – all attention was on this incident.
Whatever the independent tribunal uncovers over the next few weeks, you can be assured that it is going to be explosive and will cost someone, if not a few people, their careers in rugby. Yet another round of bad press which the Australian Rugby Union could have done without!
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