Rugby Australia boss Raelene Castle denies the Wallabies have a problem culture
Rugby Australia boss Raelene Castle has defended Wallabies Kurtley Beale and Adam Ashley-Cooper, saying the senior players “erred” in taking people back to their hotel after a game.
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Rugby Australia boss Raelene Castle says there are no cultural issues within the Wallabies squad after senior players Kurtley Beale and Adam Ashley-Cooper were dropped for bringing three women to their team hotel a fortnight ago.
Ashley-Cooper’s sister-in-law and her two friends joined the pair for drinks and room service after the Wallabies lost to Wales in Cardiff on November 11, in breach of an internal team rule that guests are not allowed in their hotels.
The women were gone before midnight and one was a relative of Ashley-Cooper’s, making this more complicated than if it had been strangers, however coach Michael Cheika, captain Michael Hooper and the team’s leadership group wanted the pair sanctioned to ensure there are no misunderstandings about expectation and standards.
“There isn’t any wider cultural issue, this is a situation where two boys brought some friends and family back into their hotel without thinking of the implications of that, because they were friends and family,” Castle said.
“But once it was pointed out to them that the rule was there for a reason, they recognised that they had erred, and they accepted the team and Michael’s position.
“They’ve taken that as senior players as you’d expect them to, and they support the team rules that are in place.
“While disappointed, I must say they’re disappointed that they’ve put the team in this situation, but they accept the rules are in place to be lived by.”
Cheika made the call to drop Beale and Ashley-Cooper from Sunday’s (2am AEDT) match against England.
Castle said it was pleasing that Hooper and fellow team leaders David Pocock, Allan Alaalatoa, Samu Kerevi and Nick Phipps had taken action to ensure “creaks” did not start to appear in the Wallabies’ culture.
“Absolutely, because the alternative is that they realise they could have just brushed it under the carpet and no one would have been any the wiser,” Castle said.
“But that’s often when the creaks start. You’ve got rules in place, you’ve got a line in the sand, and that’s the line in the sand that Michael has used and you’ve got to live by it.
“You’ve got to call it, and they did, and I support that.”
While this incident is nowhere near the level of the 2013 spring tour “Dublin 13” debacle, in which six players were suspended and seven more fined for drinking and breaking curfew in Ireland, it’s understood it will be raised during a season review conducted by RA in the next month.
Cheika will front the board to explain the disastrous 2018 season and present plans for next year’s World Cup.
However, the Wallabies’ coaching structure could change before Christmas, with Castle refusing to guarantee Cheika’s assistants are safe from the axe.
The review will scrutinise the roles of assistant coaches Stephen Larkham, Nathan Grey, Simon Raiwalui and Mick Byrne, and RA will finalise a decision on them within a month.
“That’s what a review process is; making sure we’re very honest around that process and every element of the campaign will be reviewed,” Castle said.
“You only get … probably only six weeks to make any changes before you go into that nine-month build-up, if that’s what we identify in our review process.”
Castle said while Cheika would support all of his assistants, the final decision would rest with the outcome of the review.
“I would like to stand by the review process, we’ll do that with Michael,” she said.
“There’s no doubt one of his biggest strengths is loyalty, we need to make sure we’ve got the best team together, but we’ll wait and see what the review process throws up.”
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Originally published as Rugby Australia boss Raelene Castle denies the Wallabies have a problem culture