Rugby Union - by Craig Hill

Party boys feel hard done by
Jim Kayes
Monday, July 30, 2007

The All Blacks fined $NZ500 for a late night out in Auckland before the final Tri Nations test against Australia believe they were treated like schoolchildren by team management.

Six All Blacks - Piri Weepu, Troy Flavell, Rico Gear, John Schwalger, Conrad Smith and Ross Filipo - were out until 4am the day before the Bledisloe Cup decider at Eden Park.

They were dobbed in to coach Graham Henry when someone slipped a note under his door at the team's hotel.

Players told a reporter they were stunned at how seriously it was treated by management.

One said it was like being back at school when they were reprimanded by Henry, a former secondary school principal, and team manager Darren Shand. All six players are adults with Weepu and Schwalger the youngest at 23, while Flavell is 30, Gear 29 and Filipo 28.

Smith, 25, who is also a qualified lawyer, said the reaction to the players' excursion had been "puzzling", while Weepu denied the players had let their teammates down.

Shand had made that claim when he revealed the six players had been charged with misconduct under the players' collective agreement and fined.

Although no curfew was in place, Shand said midnight would be a respectable hour for the All Blacks to be tucked up in bed.

Weepu, whose omission from the World Cup squad has been linked, in part, to the night out in Auckland, said "not really" when asked if he believed he had let anyone down.