Australia test winger Wendell Sailor was preparing to return home this morning to face a code of conduct hearing after being suspended and fined over a drunken incident in South Africa.
Sailor, currently in South Africa with the New South Wales Waratahs, was suspended by NSW for one match and fined an undisclosed sum after being found guilty of breaching the team's disciplinary rules.
Sailor agreed to return home immediately where he will face an additional code of conduct hearing jointly conducted by NSW and the Australian Rugby Union.
Sailor was handed a two-match suspended sentence last year for a nightclub incident while touring South Africa with the Wallabies. Although the suspended sentence cannot be invoked because the latest incident happened with NSW, the ARU released a statement saying Sailor would be required to front a code of conduct hearing.
"The Waratahs acted quickly in conducting an internal Disciplinary Committee hearing. However, because of the significance of the issue, both the NSWRU and the ARU agree further action is warranted," ARU Managing Director Gary Flowers said in a statement.
Sailor has admitted being heavily intoxicated after a late-night drinking binge in Cape Town last Friday. He told an Australian newspaper he had been involved in an altercation outside the nightclub but could not remember the incident.
A NSW disciplinary panel met today and ruled Sailor's behaviour was inappropriate and suspended him from this week's Super 14 match against the Bulls in Pretoria as well as fining him an undisclosed amount.
"It's obviously disappointing to see this happen and we find it totally unacceptable behaviour, as does Wendell," NSW chief executive Fraser Neill said in a statement. "These things must be dealt with expediently but never at the cost of due process and that's what we've followed here under NSW protocols."
Sailor said in the same statement that he had gone out drinking because he was frustrated at being ruled out of last weekend's 32-26 victory over the Stormers in Cape Town because of a hamstring injury.
"It's going to hurt me missing this game, it hurt me missing last week's game and I think that was half the reason I went out on Friday night," he said. "I'm pretty disappointed with myself, obviously a very depressing day for me today as we really should have been talking about what a good win it was by the Waratahs."
