JAMES O’Connor has been stood down from the Wallabies squad by coach Ewen McKenzie for at least two Tests after finding the Australian back had behaved unacceptably in Perth last weekend.
O’Connor was prevented from boarding an Air Asia flight to Bali in Perth early last Sunday because he was allegedly intoxicated.
He was removed from the terminal by Australian Federal Police officers but ended up boarding a later flight to Bali.
O’Connor will not travel with the team on Monday, when they leave Sydney for their final two Rugby Championship Tests in South Africa and Argentina.
He has been replaced in the squad by uncapped winger Peter Betham of the New South Wales Waratahs.
Australian Rugby Union integrity officer Phil Thomson is conducting an investigation into the incident and McKenzie won’t make a decision about the length of O’Connor’s exclusion from the team until it is completed.
After his mid-year appointment, McKenzie spoke to O’Connor, who had incurred some disciplinary blemishes during the tenure of previous Wallabies coach Robbie Deans.
He said 23-year-old O’Connor had let his teammates down with the latest incident and would need to make substantial changes in how he went about things.
“I had a chance to look at the circumstances round the incident the other day and had the chance to have a look at incidents over time,” McKenzie told reporters on Friday.
“From that, we’re not getting the right type of behaviour from him.
“There’s no doubt that since I met with him prior to the start of the season, he’s made incremental improvements.
“But he let himself down on the weekend so, from a behavioural perspective, it wasn’t acceptable, so we’re standing him down.”
Asked how the 44-Test back had taken his decision, McKenzie said he understood when they received the detail of the behaviour, the player put his hand up and said it wasn’t acceptable.
Asked what aspect of O’Connor’s behaviour the player himself had found unacceptable, McKenzie said “I think the way he conducted himself in public”.
He said O’Connor was a very good player who had been doing well on the field.
However he couldn’t shirk the decision he made to stand him down, even though it leaves him short of outside backs, with Nick Cummins and Jesse Mogg injured.
He said O’Connor had to eliminate the periodic problems that have punctuated his career.
In 2010, he was allegedly involved in an altercation with teammates Quade Cooper and Kurtley Beale in Paris.
The following year, he was suspended for one Test after missing the Wallabies’ World Cup squad announcement and photo following a night out.
In June this year, O’Connor and Beale were photographed at a fast-food outlet at 4am in the days leading up to the second Test against the British and Irish Lions.
“There’s a track record there of similar types of events; they’ve all been different circumstances,” McKenzie said.
“I think a significant change in behaviour is required so there’s a challenge for him.
“He’s got to do something different because the frequency of this is not acceptable.”
“I’ll certainly be monitoring his progress, but I’m not interested in hearing about things. I want to see action – I want to see change.”
McKenzie was disappointed O’Connor’s behaviour on Sunday took the attention away from the team, who on Saturday night beat Argentina after losing the three previous Tests of his tenure.
“From a moving the team and the sport forward perspective, we’ve gone backwards, so that’s really disappointing,” McKenzie said.
“We need to shift the debate by, I guess, removing him from the environment.” - AAP
[ Source: Australian Times ]