NSWRU and ARU agree to hold Code of Conduct Hearing

The New South Wales Rugby Union (NSWRU) in conjunction with the Australian Rugby Union (ARU) has agreed to conduct a Code of Conduct Hearing into an incident involving NSW Waratahs player Wendell Sailor in Cape Town last week.

The decision has been taken following an approach from the NSWRU to the ARU seeking clarification on the status of a two match suspended sentence handed down to Sailor following an incident in Cape Town prior to a Wallabies match last year.

ARU Managing Director Gary Flowers advised the NSWRU that the sentence pre-dated the ARU Disciplinary Protocol Review and thus applied to Wallaby assemblies only.

After further discussions, both NSWRU Chairman Arvid Petersen and ARU Managing Director Gary Flowers agreed a Code of Conduct hearing was the appropriate way to proceed following a team Disciplinary Hearing in Cape Town this morning.

“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.” Mr Flowers said.

“The NSWRU is concerned about the image of our game – obviously in circumstances where an individual has re-offended, that is something that the NSWRU takes extremely seriously. We believe this process is the most appropriate course of action to achieve this goal.” said Mr Petersen.

A NSWRU Tribunal aims to convene this week, chaired by an independent senior legal practitioner or retired judge, a representative of the NSWRU and a representative of the ARU. The player is entitled to appropriate representation at the hearing as stipulated in the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) with the Rugby Union Player’s Association.

Related Article:

Sailor Suspended by Waratahs Disciplinary Committee (Mon Feb 20)