 Coach Graham Henry was unimpressed by the players' antics |
Six All Blacks have been fined and reprimanded after a late-night drinking session before Saturday's Tri-Nations win over Australia in Auckland. The players, none of whom were involved in the match-day 22, returned to their hotel at 4am on Friday morning.
Team manager Darren Shand said the players returned "unacceptably late", four hours after an unofficial curfew.
Conrad Smith, Rico Gear, Piri Weepu, Troy Flavell, Ross Filipo and John Schwalger were all fined $NZ500 (�200).
"The management and the 22 guys who played today (Saturday) are really disappointed," Shand said. "They've let us down.
"At the end of the day they haven't done anything wrong other than getting home late but we don't see that as an acceptable time to be out before the most important Test match of the year."
Shand said the behaviour of the six was particularly disappointing considering the All Blacks have had to twice make late changes to their starting line-ups this season.
Lock Keith Robinson and wing Sitiveni Sivivatu suffered injuries during the warm-ups for Tests against France and South Africa respectively.
"There's countless examples where players have been called up at the last minute," Shand added. "They (the non-selected players) have a programme to adhere to - that's why it's even more disappointing."
All Blacks head coach Graham Henry, who was alerted to the players' late return by a hotel guest slipping a note under his door, is due to name his 30-man World Cup squad on Sunday.
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