“Things had to change within the Wallabies culture.”
The words of former Leinster lock, Kane Douglas, appearing in the Sydney Morning Herald.
A total of six players were handed one game suspensions in addition to a further nine players receiving a sanction in the immediate aftermath of Australia’s 32-15 victory over Ireland in November 2013.
Ahead of the game a number of the players went out for dinner on the Tuesday night, a day before their scheduled day off.
Ewen McKenzie, the head coach of Australia at the time, released a statement after that Ireland game where he shared his disappointment with regards to the behaviour of his squad.
“Those standards were compromised in the lead-up to Saturday’s victory over Ireland with a group of players making the decision to stay out late and consume inappropriate levels of alcohol during the early hours of Wednesday morning.”
This wasn’t the only controversy which occurred during Ewen McKenzie’s ill-fated tenure as Wallabies coach. Towards the end of his time in charge, Kurtley Beale was found guilty of sending an offensive image relating to former team business manager, Di Patston, on 9 June 2014.
However these kind of incidents, which once surrounded the Wallabies camp, now seem to be a thing of the past.
This is something which Douglas, who received a written warning himself over the 2013 incident, refers to.
“I think we’ve become more professional since then and that’s probably not even going to happen (an incident such as in 2013).”
It has been the influence of Michael Cheika that has instilled a new sense of responsibility on the players.
In fact, there are no formal rules on mid-week alcohol consumption during tours under Cheika, but it is the players’ responsibility themselves to ensure that they are in the best possible physical and mental state when they take to the pitch.
“We haven’t got any rules with Cheik anyway…we’re all adults. “
The driving of standards within the squad is now coming from the senior members, something which is important as Cheika has used this tour to blood a number of young players.
“It’s been good from the leadership group and I feel like I’m getting pretty old now anyway.
“I’m 27, I’ve got a wife and kids and everyone just wants to be in the right position come Saturday that we can play our best footy. I think the Wallaby culture and a heap of the boys have grown a lot since then.”
The Wallabies are entering this weekend’s clash searching for their fourth straight Test victory.
In addition to this they are hoping to keep the dream alive that they can complete a Grand-Slam over the home nations for the first time since 1984.
Under Cheika’s guidance, you can expect this Australia side to be firmly focused on achieving a first win over Ireland since that controversial week in 2013.
Dick Clerkin makes his GAA Hour debut to talk about a wonderful career and argue passionately with Colm Parkinson over Sky Sports GAA. Subscribe here on iTunes.
