Cowan made his All Blacks debut in 2004

The New Zealand Rugby Union has told Jimmy Cowan he must give up alcohol to have a future with his national team.

The 26-year-old scrum-half, who has 10 caps, has been arrested twice in two months for disorder offences and heard the ultimatum at a misconduct hearing.

All Blacks manager Darren Shand said: "He must change if he wants to be a professional player in New Zealand.

"We've made it a condition of his employment that he stop drinking altogether. This is his last chance."

We decided that what was most important was that we address Jimmy's problem openly and deal with it rather than pushing it to one side All Blacks manager Darren Shand

The Otago Highlanders player was also fined around �1,100 and ordered to undergo counselling but was allowed to stay in the squad because of his willingness to change his ways.

"We take the matter very seriously and considered other penalties," added Shand.

"However, in light of Jimmy's willingness to acknowledge his problem and seek help for it we decided that what was most important was that we address the problem openly and deal with it rather than pushing it to one side."

Cowan is scheduled to appear in court in Invercargill on Wednesday to face a charge of disorderly behavior likely to cause violence.

"I am very fortunate to be given another chance," he said.

"This is my problem and nobody else's, and I'm starting the process now of taking the steps to fix it."