Australia have been plunged into chaos on the eve of Saturday’s encounter with England after it emerged Kurtley Beale and Adam Ashley-Cooper were not available for selection for disciplinary reasons, just hours after David Pocock was ruled out through injury.
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Beale and Ashley-Cooper have been sanctioned for allowing three women back to their hotel in Newport after the defeat by Wales two weeks ago. Both featured against Italy last Saturday but the Australia head coach, Michael Cheika, acted at the start of the week after the incident was brought to his attention by the Wallabies’ senior leadership group, which includes the captain Michael Hooper.
It is believed Ashley-Cooper’s sister-in-law was among the women in attendance, contravening team rules which state no guests are allowed in players’ rooms. “The leadership group came to me earlier in the week and asked me to deal with it in a way I thought was appropriate and I thought this was the appropriate way,” said Cheika. “We have had an inconsistent season because we have often taken short cuts when we have needed to go harder and get to the well a little bit more and dig a bit deeper.”
Between them, Beale and Ashley-Cooper have 200 caps but both have had disciplinary problems in the past. Beale was fined, and narrowly avoided the sack in 2014, after sending an inappropriate text message to the Wallabies staff member Di Patston while Ashley-Cooper was one of six players banned for the 2013 Test against Scotland because of a midweek drinking session. The 34-year-old has only just returned to the Australia set-up, having made his first appearance last weekend in more than two years.
Cheika was on Friday adamant neither player would have been guaranteed selection but only 24 hours previously had claimed Beale’s omission was purely down to form. “Obviously there is disappointment – and they are disappointed too,” added Cheika.
“It’s a small error of judgment. If we want to compete with the best, all the small shortcuts have to be gone, on and off the field. Some might consider it a bit too harsh [but] the leaders showed a lot of courage coming to me because they want to set a standard. [Beale and Ashley-Cooper] were very apologetic, they realised their error and they have been trying to help the other players get ready for the game. This is equivalent to someone being late or missing a curfew. Then the punishment has been dealt down. If anything it’s a team that has got clarity on where it wants to go.”
Hooper confirmed he was aware of the incident before the Italy match but waited until afterwards to act, describing the decision as “extremely hard”. He said: “We’re all mates wanting to see each other do the best but the team comes first. When we say we are going to put a line in the sand, it is important we stick to that.”
Compounding matters for Australia, Pocock failed a fitness test on Friday morning and has been replaced at No8 by Pete Samu, who makes only his third start. Pocock has been struggling all week with a neck injury but was named in the Wallabies’ starting XV on Thursday despite being unable to take a full part in training. Marika Koroibete replaces Samu on the bench.
“[David] just couldn’t get over it,” said Cheika. “He trained a bit yesterday and his neck was really quite sore. He wanted another day, which obviously you’ll afford to a guy like him because he knows his body better than anyone and had prepared better than anyone but he couldn’t overcome it.”
Even without the absences of Beale, Ashley-Cooper and Pocock, Australia were up against it, on a run of five straight defeats by England and having won only four of their 12 matches in 2018. “I’ve got a feeling our backs were against the wall beforehand,” added Cheika. “But the players are committed to going to the well more than they have been at any stage this season. That’s what we need to do and we’ll love it.
“We’re going to cop a heap of grief – probably a little bit more after today for sure – but you’ve got to love it. We’ll give back as good as we get. when kick-off time comes everything’s forgotten and it’s game on. I’ve got a lot of self-belief and a lot of belief in my team and I hope I can pass more of that on to them so they can have that genuine Aussie swagger when they run on to the field.”