London: Wallabies captain Michael Hooper says it was “extremely hard” for the Wallabies leadership group to tell coach Michael Cheika about a breach of team rules by Kurtley Beale and Adam Ashley-Cooper but flatly rejected the suggestion there was team disharmony as a result of the pair being dropped for Saturdays game against England.
Beale and Ashley-Cooper will sit out the upcoming fixture against England after breaking team protocol by having guests in their room after Australias three-point loss to Wales a fortnight ago.
Wallabies duo Adam Ashley-Cooper and Kurtley Beale were stood down for breaking team rules.Credit:AP
A Wallabies spokesperson said three women, one of whom was Ashley-Coopers sister-in-law, were invited to the room. It is understood the other two were her friends.
Hooper and the teams leadership group found out while they were in Italy but did not tell Cheika until Tuesday, according to the coach.
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Hooper won a Super Rugby title with Beale and Ashley-Cooper in 2014 and is extremely tight with the pair, as are the other members of the leadership group. Passing on the information was not an easy thing for him to do.
“Its extremely hard, theres no way around it," Hooper said. "Were all mates wanting to see each other do the best but the team comes first. Thats the direction weve got to go. These small steps to putting the team first are going to have a great outcome in the end.
Michael Hooper denied there was team disunity after he and other members of the leadership group reported the breach to coach Michael Cheika.Credit:AAP
“When we say we are going to put a line in the sand, it is important we stick to that. Weve got big goals as a team."
Cheika said Beale and Ashley-Cooper had copped their punishment on the chin and Hooper denied there was a rift within the playing ranks, responding to a question about potential disunity with a simple “no”.
"We were well into the week, so the idea was to focus on the [Italy] game, to get through that and then deal with it afterwards," Hooper said. "As a group, largely, we have moved on from that. As Michael [Cheika] said [it is] a relatively small deal as far as what the actual thing was that happened. We made the decision to not go with it there and go with it down the track.”
Cheika lauded the leadership group for maintaining high standards among the group, even if he felt the slip-up was minor.
“It wouldnt have been easy," said Cheika of the leadership group. "They are good friends with those guys and Ive also been impressed with the two boys because they understood they made an error of judgement and they are very disappointed but also been very proactive in making other players better."
Hooper hopes the hardline stance will be good for the group in the long run as they look to regather next year ahead of the 2019 World Cup.
“It would be foolish to wipe this stuff clean and start a new year,” Hooper said. “This is stuff that were going to take into next year and be something thats really worthwhile.
“If were going to do this and take this line, its going to be worthwhile for us and we have to get the positives out of it.
“Going forward well have meetings together next year, how we can extend that and push that to be the team we want to become.”
Cheika said the Wallabies would have their backs against the wall when they face England given the adversity of this latest drama but insisted the group needed to embrace the challenge.
“Were gonna cop a heap of grief – probably a little bit more after today for sure – but youve gotta love it,” Cheika said. “You cant help but enjoy that.
“Well give back as good as we get, although Ill probably have the microphone well and truly over my mouth this year.
“How all this goes down, youve got to have a good time with it. Sometimes you make errors of judgement, make mistakes, feel bad, but when kick-off time comes everythings forgotten and its game on.”
Tom Decent is a journalist with Fairfax Media.
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